I had my turtle Morris for 23 years. Here he is sunning himself. It is because of Morris that I ever wanted a pond to begin with.

This is Morris. As you can see he is quite a handsome fellow. Morris is an ornate red eard slider. Unfortunately Morris escaped the summer of 2001.

THE STORY OF MORRIS'S ESCAPE!

Morris, clever turtle that he is, figured out a way to escape from his pond. We had put a potted umbrella palm on his basking island and he somehow managed to crawl up on top of the plant and bend down the braches to form a little bridge to the edge of the pond. Our turtle pond went through many revisions before we deemed it escape proof, but nobody thought that Morris was clever enough to escape that way. Indeed we were not clever enough apparently to even foresee the possibility. Unfortunately, there were a few places in the fence around our yard big enough for Morris to fit through so that is how he escaped out of our yard.

We put up flyers as soon as we realized he was missing, but by then it was too late. We would have found him if he hadn’t been found by a total IDIOT!! The woman that found him didn’t know what to do with him, did not bother to even try to find out the right thing to do so she LET HIM GO in the BAYLANDS!! This is not even fresh water but brackish water!! GAH!! She didn’t even keep him for 24 hours and didn’t see our flyers till a few days after we had posted them. She called to tell me what she had done because she saw our flyers and felt bad I guess since the flyers said he’d been my pet for 23 years. I am so upset. Too bad she didn’t think to call the Humane society or wildlife rescue or ANYTHING! I am just sick about this and so worried about my poor turtle.

We’ve done everything we can think of to find Morris. Including going out to where he was released with a brand new pair of binoculars but it really feels like looking for a needle in a haystack. I sent an e-mail to everyone at the company I work for because we happen to be right down the street from the baylands park and lot's of employee's take walks on the nearby trails. The creek runs right along our building. We also put up flyers everywhere in the area where she released him and contacted the park ranger in charge of the baylands park, which is also a wildlife sanctuary. I have also contacted several agencies including the Bay Area Amphibian and Reptile Society, and local Jr. Museum that gives classes and has nature walks in the area where he was released.

Not only was what the woman did when she released Morris into the wild incredibly stupid, but also illegal. If you ever find a turtle first call your local animal shelter or humane society. They may not take turtles but they will be able to tell you who to call. Never release a captive turtle into the wild. Not only will they possibly die, but if they do manage to survive they can wipe out native species. We still have hope we may find Morris, but it’s a vast area and his only hope really is if he wanders outta that marsh and wanders into the park area or into a local parking lot. There is also a freshwater creek nearby that has trails beside it for people to run and bike on. I suppose that miracles can happen and Morris could still be found. I do miss him terribly. I can only hope that he’s still alive and enjoying being a free wild turtle.

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