Well, this may be a sad entry for Josh, Wes, and Landon.... We almost had a pet turtle! We were all out working in the garden sometime in May when one of our neighbors called the boys over to his yard to see something! Sure enough, there was a TURTLE in his yard! It had somehow made it through the fence and come from the golf course. A turtle in UTAH! We were all shocked!
Well, our nice neighbor told the boys that they should really take him home and do a huge research project on turtles...(You can imagine my excitement...)
Our neighbors even helped us come up with a name. "Bernie" is our neighbor's nick-name and we all thought it quite fitting!
So, because I temporarily lost the "no" in my vocabulary, we took him home and began an enormous research project. We learned a lot about turtles!
Bernie spent one whole day at the Ostler house. He looked sad though. He only went swimming a few times and usually just hid inside of his shell.
So, I called every pet shop in Layton and also Animal Control. Everyone of them told me that turtles live very happily in Utah, year-round. (Imagine that!) They hibernate all winter long and enjoy the rest of the year swimming in ponds and other wetlands. So, where do you find the most ponds in Utah? Of course the golf course! The pet shops and Animal Control told us we should put him back in his pond on the golf course and that he would live very happily there.
So, after a very sad farewell, we climbed the fence to the golf course and a very sweet golfing couple agreed to take Bernie to the happiest pond they could find.
There you have it... Our brief, but happy, encounter with Bernie the turtle!