I was standing out on the porch today trying out a new DSLR camera with one of my older Nikon lenses, pretty much scanning the trees for birds or something that might be of interest for the lens I was using. Nothing..... So I'm about to call it quits when I spot a "lump" in the yard close to the lemon trees, and take a closer look. Well, I'll be.... a box turtle. He looked like he was sleeping soundly, as he never moved a muscle the entire time I was taking pics and changing lenses. I even used a flash rig for this camera, and he still never budged a muscle the entire time.
It was getting darker anyway, and I even felt a few drops of rain, so time to wrap it up. I was in the house and looked outside to see if the turtle was still there, as I was actually kind of worried about him not moving, and noticed that he finally had awakened and was walking about the yard. I then decided to grab the Sony RX10 IV and take some video from the front porch. It was raining by then, and I didn't want to get the camera wet anyway. He pretty much ignored me and finally walked across the yard toward me, then veered off into the palm trees and went on his way. Hopefully we'll see him again sometime soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivdFPuv73RQ
It's kind of interesting to note that whenever we have heavy rains around here and get some temporary ponds filled up, we will usually see two or three box turtles in the ponds, and sometimes mating. So perhaps this is an omen that we are in for some heavy rains sometime soon, since this would not be unusual for this time of year.
It was getting darker anyway, and I even felt a few drops of rain, so time to wrap it up. I was in the house and looked outside to see if the turtle was still there, as I was actually kind of worried about him not moving, and noticed that he finally had awakened and was walking about the yard. I then decided to grab the Sony RX10 IV and take some video from the front porch. It was raining by then, and I didn't want to get the camera wet anyway. He pretty much ignored me and finally walked across the yard toward me, then veered off into the palm trees and went on his way. Hopefully we'll see him again sometime soon.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivdFPuv73RQ
It's kind of interesting to note that whenever we have heavy rains around here and get some temporary ponds filled up, we will usually see two or three box turtles in the ponds, and sometimes mating. So perhaps this is an omen that we are in for some heavy rains sometime soon, since this would not be unusual for this time of year.
