Coolest thing ever happened today. I was on my Walk'n'hike and up ahead, out of the blue, I saw one of the local natives wandering 'round in the desert. Yep, the trusty Desert Tortoise. (Y)
Gotta say, these dudes are rare. Even out here. In fact the last time I actually saw one in real life was about 11 years ago. I was out cruisin' in my Jeep (see photo) and I saw one on the trail. Totally cool to see one. Finally. So I got out, fed him some snacks that I had on board, and next thing you know, he started following me. He was obviously hungry.
In fact, I couldn't lose the lil' dude. Now I know what the Hare went through tryin' to ditch his rival. These dudes don't give up, they're basically relentless. Talk about perseverance, these guys got it in bucket loads. I think there's a lesson to be learned there.
So as I was on my hike today, I approached slowly so I didn't scare the guy. Of course, as I got closer, he did his "evacuate the premises" thing and retreated to his shell. o.O
And as he did this, I noticed a giant piece of jumping cactus stuck in the front armored skin of his little left front leg. And as his leg went inside his shell (or tried to anyway. He was struggling trying to get his leg in there with the cactus stuck to it), I could feel the pain of that cactus sticking him even more.
So, once he relaxed a bit and began to come back out of his shell, I saw my mission staring me in the face. And of course, me bein' a certified Tortoise Whisperer an' all, I instantly chose to accept it. Even before the message self destructed.
I knew I had to get that cactus out of his leg, no matter what. And these things have serious 'one way' barbs on 'em. They go in, but they don't come out. At least not willingly anyway. And this one was definitely stuck. So I grabbed a stick and after some serious 'operating', I was able to remove the cactus.
And get this. I could almost swear he instantly sprouted a huge sigh of a smile. I could 'feel' the relief on his face. He reached for his wallet and offered to pay me but of course, my being a registered "Tortoise Whisperer" an' all, I'm not allowed to accept any fees for my efforts. He thanked me endlessly. I told him no worries, it was my calling, and to keep on truckin'.
I picked him up, moved him off the trail, and out of harms way. And as I began to leave, I turned around one last time and I'll be damned if he wasn't following me.
Yep, just like the last guy eleven years prior. I guess that's the life of a Tortoise Whisperer. But even as difficult as it was, I knew what I had to do (because he was costing me time on my Fitbit ETA), and that was to walk away. :'(
Fortunately I gained a bit of solace in the knowing that I served my life's purpose. I did what I was put on this earth to do (well, at least one of the things anyway) which is whisper to tortoises.
So, while you're at it, might as well add Mobile Desert Veterinarian to my resume.
