(This actually happened Tues., I finished the drawing Wed., and I finally got around to blogging about it today...)
I had to sketch a hatchling at the Irrigation Ditch. A large mother turtle was there, but her baby turtle, named Tower because he always wanted to be tall and at the very top (isn't that the way many of us are?), wasn't around. She didn't seem overly concerned about his being out adventuring, feeling he'd be back when he was hungry, as all hatchings do.
I found him moments later, doing what I'd expect Tower to do: trying to get up and out of that Irrigation Ditch. He was too good to stay in a place like that! As soon as he turned his face upward towards the top of the wall tho', he got a mouthful of water.
Gotta hand it to Towers tho'. He may be a lot of things, but a quitter he's not. I watched him try to climb to the top I-don't-know-how-many-times; get toppled down to the bottom by a stream of water; until he FINALLY MADE IT!
When I saw him swim away, I went back to tell the larger turtle, and her response was:
"Not coming back for food? Now there's more for the rest of the family."
I guess that's turtles in the wild.
(cont'd.)
