Rocco

We have had a turtle!

Story goes something like this:

Greg empties pool baskets and discovers tiny turtle trapped!

Rescue and naming ceremony {"Rocco Jon Burkett" courtesy of Ben}.

Mad dash to pet store for tank and recommended supplies.

Adorable Rocco and newly acquired reptile tank make residence in the kitchen {a good place for observing--the children--not the turtle}.

At this point a little instinct kicked in, and I took to the web for some turtle research. The little darling was a Red Slider Turtle, and a baby one, at that. He needed some serious equipment in order to survive his expected thirty-five years. Upon reading that a major necessity was a 100-gallon tank with a UV-B light and sunning perch, I started typing in google searches such as "reptile rescue" and "turtle rehab".

Fast-forward to this afternoon. Picnic blanket in hand, we journeyed to the pond and had a turtle-release ceremony complete with cupcakes.



Shortly after taking to the water {pretty sure Rocco is an Olympic swimmer}, five adult turtles swam over to make their introductions. The kids and I were positively pumped! We promptly decided that Rocco's new family would take good care of him and show him the ropes.


Fare-thee-well tiny turtle. It was cool meeting you, Rocco.

PS We're headed out tomorrow to buy fish to replace the hole in our hearts!!