today is world turtle day! let's shellebrate!

Happy World Turtle Day everybody!

What?! You didn’t know it was World Turtle Day?! Well, you do now! So, let’s all take a moment to sit and appreciate the intrinsic worth of our shelled brethren.

My first pet was a box turtle. Yep, I was one of those horrible children who took a wild box turtle out of the woods and kept it in a chicken wire pen for the summer as my “pet.” I am going to zookeeper hell and I know it.

I wanted to name the turtle “Birdy” (I was three) and my big sister wanted to name him, aptly, “Turts.” As a result, our first pet was fondly called “Birdyturts.”

As bad as it is to take a wild animal as a pet, I do have many fond memories or watching Birdyturts and co. eating scrambled eggs and cauliflower in my backyard (guilty, as charged). These days were likely the beginning of my love for turtles.

Twenty-odd years later, here I am, dating a turtle biologist. John spent his graduate school days studying freshwater turtles. No one is more passionate about this species than John.

Scratch that…I thought that no one loved turtles as much as John, until today! As it turns out, LOTS of people love turtles. Many a visitor came to the Turtle Day table at the Zoo today, with a great fondness for these little reptiles in their hearts.

Check out a few snapshots of the event below…plus one of my two beautiful buddies, Gilbert and Sullivan, who I am happy to report seemed to enjoy their first day in River’s Edge.

Happy Turtle Day everyone! Stop and (safely!) help one cross the road this weekend to celebrate.