Life as a (shelled) public figure means daily life may never be as private as you might prefer. It just comes with the territory when you are born looking this cute. Add in a sweet-natured mellow tortoise personality and a natural knack for appealing to fellow “foodies” everywhere, and you can just about forget aboutContinueContinue reading “Day 200: Tortoise Finds a Very Fashionable Snack”
Author Archives: Shannon Cutts
Day 199: Cockatiel Is On a Roll
No matter how skilled and savvy you may be at winning the game o’ love, some years it is just inevitable you will get a late start to the nesting season. Perhaps your spring molt took longer than usual. Or maybe your large featherless assistant mistook your stockpile of nesting materials for cage liners andContinueContinue reading “Day 199: Cockatiel Is On a Roll”
Day 198: The Box Turtle Stakeout
If you are a being who wears a shell on your back, it doesn’t take long to learn you might as well be wearing a sign that reads, “I’m what’s for lunch.” To further complicate matters, since the shell goes wherever you go, you can’t very well just leave it behind and continue on yourContinueContinue reading “Day 198: The Box Turtle Stakeout”
Day 197: That Tortoise Tongue
As a card-carrying member of the ancient order of Chelonia (Testudines), you might as well be planetary royalty. Depending on who you ask (and how accurate their research may be), your shelled kind, the “tortoise,” may even predate the venerated dinosaurs! And yet your large shell-less assistant can’t seem to keep herself from “oohing” andContinueContinue reading “Day 197: That Tortoise Tongue”
Day 196: Cockatiel Knows Location Is Everything
These days, it is not enough to be a very manly and masculine cockatiel manbird when you are looking for love. The ladybirds are very picky – they want love and all the trimmings, too. And what is the first thing a ladybird looks for when she is oh-so-choosily choosing her nest mate? Nesting location,ContinueContinue reading “Day 196: Cockatiel Knows Location Is Everything”
Day 195: A Flocking Box Turtle
Since most shelled beings don’t naturally cohabitate in flocks, any shelled newcomer to flock life can expect to encounter a learning curve of sorts. This learning curve can definitely be worth the work, however. After all, being the intelligent, independent, resourceful box turtle that you are, if you are going to do this “flock life”ContinueContinue reading “Day 195: A Flocking Box Turtle”
Day 194: Tortoise Tucks Into Edible Greens
Being born as a redfoot tortoise who is expected to find her own snacks from day one, it pays to get to know your colors pronto. For instance, those adorable dots all over your legs and face – those are red dots. The slightly larger (and equally adorable) dots on your back – well, those areContinueContinue reading “Day 194: Tortoise Tucks Into Edible Greens”
Day 193: Cockatiel Builds a Bigger Flock
As everyone knows, the bigger your flock, the more powerful you are as flock “alpha.” As a young cockatiel, you might start out with just one or two flock members. In time, as word gets out that there is a very cute feathered being in the neighborhood, this may expand into a few more flockContinueContinue reading “Day 193: Cockatiel Builds a Bigger Flock”
Day 192: Boy Box Turtle Versus Girl Box Turtle
If there is one fact about shelled beings that the large shell-less beings seem to consistently get wrong, it is box turtle gender. Just as the males of the avian world are often more colorful and (let’s be honest) attractive than the females, so too can the bright coloration and outgoing personalities of boy boxContinueContinue reading “Day 192: Boy Box Turtle Versus Girl Box Turtle”
Day 191: Redfoot Tortoise Is a Standup Girl
No one thinks of tortoises as being “tall.” Nope. If you are born wearing a shell on your back, everything thinks you are short and slow and all they see is a rock on legs. At first. If you have a shell and you want to really give your large shell-less assistant a shock, thereContinueContinue reading “Day 191: Redfoot Tortoise Is a Standup Girl”
Love & Feathers & Shells 