Day 264: Box Turtle Sees Stars

Contrary to popular belief, being born with a shell on your back does not automatically make you a homebody.

Some beings with shells love to wander and roam and explore and see new interesting places.

And then there is you, the three-toed Texas box turtle. You were born right here in Texas and Texas is where you want to stay….preferably in the same two-mile radius from where you were born.

When you lose your way, even the stars and the Earth’s magnetic force can only take you so far. Sometimes the next best option – starting over in a new home base – is also your only option.

A good way to know you have found your new forever home is when you see stars once again. You can always trust stars. They are reliable. Stars always have your back.

Does the sight of stars have special meaning to you?

BLOGGER’S NOTE: Factually-speaking, box turtles do not navigate using the stars. They use something called geo-location. A geo-locating animal senses the magnetic fields of the planet – sort of like latitude/longitude ESP. Unfortunately, in the case of the box turtle at least, this special sense only works to within a half-mile or so of their home territory. Once removed farther away than that, such as in Bruce’s case, they may roam forever and never find their way back to their birth site. When this occurs, often the only way to protect the animal and preserve a relative quality of life is to provide a secure (escape-proof) captive setting. Otherwise, the turtle may roam to the exclusion of all else – mating, eating, sleeping – until they quite literally die trying to get back home. This box turtle rescue mama doesn’t like to think about that at all.

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