Walking around with a shell on your back is guaranteed to get you noticed.
You can’t seem to go anywhere without somebody wanting to pick you up, check you out all over, shove their small rectangular flashing devices at you to pose for “selfies”….it just comes with the territory, so to speak.
Even pulling all of your (very cute) extremities inside your shell and closing up tight isn’t guaranteed to get them off your, well, tail.
Just the sight of your shell itself is usually enough to ignite the large shell-less paparazzi into a frenzy of fan-dom.
But where they really seem to get excited is when it comes to your back toes. There are three of them. Count ’em….1….2….3.
You even get your species name, the 3-toed box turtle, from these oh-so-special toes.
Of course this wasn’t your idea. After all, one look at your front toes and anyone with eyes can see they are just as cute.
And let’s not even get started on the subject of your very cute legs.
Unlike your (larger, lumpier) shelled sister, your legs are elegant, slim, agile. If you flip over onto your back, you can use all four of your acrobatic and flexible legs – and even your acrobatic and flexible head and neck – to quickly right yourself.
And yet somehow it all comes back around again to the toes. Those 3 oh-so-special 3-toed box turtle toes.
Have you ever seen a 3-toed box turtle up close?
