So they drained the pond. Very traumatic I would imagine. Loud noises, the water disappearing, people tromping around with nets scooping up fish. The turtles all went to ground. We showed up the day they drained it and came home with a 7" goldfish, a 12" tri-colored koi (how he got in the pond is anyones guess!) and ... a hatchling from this year's crop of turtles.
'Tiny' was about the size of a silver dollar.Two ponds were created, one for the fish, and one for the turtles, as we were given a turtle about the same size from the pet store when we purchased some turtle food. Hours upon hours of research went into constructing the pond/habitat for our turtles. Two days later we were called; did we want another turtle. "Andre" had nearly been hit by a car. Two days after they finished draining the pond turtles started coming out of the mud and trying to find a water source; we live in the high desert, so June temps start hitting triple digits. So we agreed to take this 8" turtle, and named him 'Andre' after Andre the Giant. And then we quickly figured out Andre was a girl when she started dropping eggs. We renamed her Calypso.
Calypso, Tiny, and Ula (Celtic for Sea Gem) all got along wonderfully. The two little ones had an odd relationship with the large female, and all seemed extremely happy. Calypso was awfully social for a wild RES. She would come out from her cave when ever we came out to see her, or feed, or just spend time watching them swim. She would come right up to the edge of the pond and watch you. It was like having a conversation. She'd follow our fingers at feeding time, so we'd always point to food. We used the guide from this website to help us insure she was getting a balanced diet, though by far Calypso's favorite was the red grapes. She's eat them all up so fast, and then she'd beg for more! Yes, I've never quite seen a turtle beg, but it was obvious that's what she was doing.
Summer passed, and fall started, so the temps started dropping. We found a nice in-line heater and brought the water back up to a nice temp. We didn't want to let anyone hibernate, especially the two little ones. Lately Calypso had started to slow down in her eating, but otherwise her behavior was still normal; she had no inclanation to leave the water to the out-door basking area we made, she prefered the in-pond basking platform.
And then it happened. A few days ago we went out to feed, but there was no face peeking at us from beneath the cave. No one swam out to visit with us. A month or so back we'd gotten the scare and thought we'd lost Ula; she's the smallest. But it turns out that while I did find a Praie Falcon perched on the edge of my above ground pond (watching my koi I suppose) it wasn't a bird of prey that took our little Ula. 3 days later I found her swimming in the other pond ... she'd buried herself down deep in the lily's pot. But there's no planters in the big turtle pond. It's a pre-formed pond, so there's no liner to tear through, no dirt to burrow in. That's why we had it heated to a comfy 78.
We looked around the edge of the pond, but there was no sign of Calypso's escape. We checked the yard. Nothing. Saddly there are some low spots where she could have gotten under the fence, that leads into a two-car-wide desert "alley" behind our property before it becomes the next parcel of land. That neighbor has field fencing that appears to be to small for her to climb through, and the folks around them have cyclone fencing that goes strait to the dirt. I went out with the hoe and started tearing up tumbleweeds that gather in the alley; still nothing. We checked everywhere in the yard, but no turtle, no sign of digging. We even pulled up several of our deck boards to check under it incase she'd wandered around to the side and crawled beneath it. Still nothing. 3 days of searching and crying over a wild turtle that came to live with us in June, and captured all our hearts.
We don't want to give up the search for her, but short of posting flyers for 'Have you seen our Turtle' we don't know what else to do. Our only guess is that her instincts to hibernate were so strong, she felt compelled to leave. And if she got out surely she went to hibernate.
But I must ask this: Why do RES feel the need to "escape". Was it really her instincts to hibernate? We've no idea how long she lived wild in the city pond, but she was so social and seemed so content. (Other then the fact that we didn't give her her red grapes as often as she thought we should) Do turtles search for anything when they do get out? Soft dirt? Another water source? Do they have homing instincts? If she is hibernating when she wakes up will she remember to come 'home'? Will she come back to our yard, following the sound of water?
We're don't want to accept that we're probably not going to find her. But every time we go out to visit with the little turtles it's hard not to sit down and start crying over the loss of our big social girl.
--Kristi
Pahrump, Nevada
