We put the baby turtle in a container with rocks and lettuce. At bedtime we put a small lamp. It probably provided a little heat, but it's the best we have on hand. The baby turtle was really exhausted. I couldn't imagine how it dodged all our cats. It rested and just kept swimming.
By morning, I noticed it was cleaner. It's color is a nice shade of green. It had dots and reminded me of one of the stones Mom used for her stone craft business. Donatello would poke his head out of the water whenever I saw hello. Not sure if he was reacting to my voice or checking out if I'm food.
I was honestly bothered about finding a baby turtle in our garage. We are not ready to take on a new animal much as we love having them. Taking care of a turtle is a whole new ballgame. I was worried we couldn't give it a proper home.
I did more research about it being an invasive specie. I found that Chinese soft shelled turtles are not endemic to our country. The DENR declared it as alien and requires anyone who finds one to surrender it to them. They are also not allowed to be returned to the wild.
So, as a good citizen, I sent a report to the DENR office that covers our area. They had replied by the time I woke up. They wanted to pick up Donatello by afternoon, but we were out. We scheduled the pick up for Monday.
As much as I'd love to have a pet turtle, I think it's best to surrender Donatello. If I let it grow it might eventually wreak havoc to the eco-system. In the meantime, we'll keep him company for the weekend.
#BeKind #StaySafe
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