Log Ness Turtle

Like Bessie at Loch Ness, getting a clear photo of the turtle in our pond just doesn’t happen.

I just can’t get close enough to get a good picture before the turtle sees me and dives under.  At best, there’s just a nose and the top most part of the shell showing when the turtle comes up for air.  A lot of the time, all you can see is the tip of his nose.

In view of that (pun intended), I told The Farmer what this poor deprived turtle needed was a log to sun on.  After all, it must get pretty tired paddling away while getting a breath of fresh air, right?  (Of course, no mention was made of my ulterior motive of being able to get a better picture of a turtle on a log as compared to one mostly submerged.  )

The Farmer readily agreed, though I suspect he knew both my motives for the idea of a floating log in the pond.  However, since he had all that wood from the big tree limbs that fell on the house, he decided he’d take up the challenge and yes, put a log in the pond.  For the turtle, of course.

Being a most excellent MacGyver sorta clone, he knew if he just threw the log in the pond, the wind would have it swept up against the banks most of the time.  What I… uh, the turtle… needed was the log staying out more towards the middle of the pond.

Farmer MacGyver had a plan.

It required a couple of posts and some slender waterproof rope.

He pounded a stake in the bank on one side of the pond, then tied one end of the rope to the stake, and another part of the rope around the log.

Then he threw the log in the water.

Once he had it in the water, he adjusted the bright orange rope around the log in what he considered the best position.

It was getting a little warm, so The Farmer took off his vest, and walked around to the opposite side of the pond.  He pounded in another stake and tied the other end of the rope to it.

Once he did that, he went back around to the other side and made some final adjustments.

And there it is, a nice log floating in the pond, holding serenely in one place.

Now, if only that turtle would crawl up there sometime to enjoy the sunshine while I’m out there with a camera in my hand!

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P.S. I went out to the mailbox after I finished this post, and guess what I saw?  Yep, a turtle trying to crawl up on the log.  Only it wasn’t the big turtle we’ve been seeing, it was a much smaller one!

We have not one, but TWO turtles! Or maybe I should say, at least two turtles, cause for all I know there might be more.   There’s the big one we’ve been seeing, and you can see that one’s head in the lower part of the picture, a little to the right of center.  And now the little one trying to get up on that big log.

Turtley Awesome!

Tagged as: pond, The Farmer, turtle, wildlife