Meet Shelly
This is about as close to a smile as I’ll ever get from a turtle.
I'm now at my 20th month living at Moose Lodge here in the Ozarks. After living in big cities for 43 years, and in cities all of my life, the last 20 months have been an adjustment to what real rural life is all about. My awareness of the critters has increased steadily ever since I got here, and I've become more aware of the rhythm of wildlife now that I'm here. You can see a cross-section of what's here on the Critters page. That wildlife makes regular appearances.
There are a lot of box turtles on the property. I'd guess ten or so. They are all very distinct and we've given them names such as Shelly, Shelldon, Shelleen, Shelby, Mishell, Roshell, Marshell, and so on. Some are very timid while others are much less so. Shelly was one of the first box turtles we met and from the day we met her, she's been completely different from all the others. She's a combination of independent and nearly fearless, with a strong willingness to make friends. We tend to assume wildlife is of a personality common to the species, but what's delighted me is that they are as varied as people.
We always offer the turtles apple slices and most of them run the other direction, but not Shelly. She never has. Instead, she has shown a rather remarkable memory and fondness for apple slices. She's nuts about them and has never shown any fear of people.
Shelly disappears during the cool weather in the fall and we don't see her again until the first warm days of summer, but like last year, she climbs the hill from the woods to the patio and waits while looking through the windows until we give her some apple slices, then she heads back into the woods. She has become very punctual and shows up for breakfast every morning, then she returns at the exact same time I feed my dog in the evening. She patiently waits outside with her head sticking out of her shell as far as it will go until I show up with apple slices. Once she's devoured them, off she goes, back into the woods for the night.
We had a big storm here last night and I lost some branches, and a small tree. It was still raining when Shelly showed up with her shell covered in dirt like she had been at a party all night. She was not willing to forego apples. This time when she was done, she remained on the other side of the glass from me while I worked. She spent at least an hour just watching me write my morning blog.
While it may seem like no big deal, this feels like the best of all worlds while interacting with wildlife. Shelly comes a long way for her apples and I have no idea what she's doing in the woods during the other hours. I can't say with certainty what she enjoys more, the apple slices or the interaction with humans. I just find it delightful that she decided to just hang out today. It made my day.