Fauna

William Spies My Toes as Food   

In addition to our cat Annie, we have William, a Florida box turtle. William is the last of the turtles my father raised from eggs laid by turtles he rescued (if that's the right word) from the wild. He got his name because right after he hatched, my train-buff father and step-mother took a trip to Pennsylvania to see the Horseshoe Curve where 3 train tracks come together. They were not content to leave William at home (the reasons are lost), so carried him on the trip. Nameless when I inherited him, I decided William would be an appropriate name for a turtle who had traveled to Pennsylvania.

William is approximately 25 years old and has a long life ahead of him as long as he learns not to bite my toes when I sit on the balcony.

It isn't really his fault. At the old house, William and his now-deceased brother Marlowe lived on the porch in a large enclosure, and whenever humans stepped into the area, they were feeding turtles. Mostly the humans (mostly me) were wearing flip flops. You can understand how William might associate human toes with food. Now he and I are sharing the balcony, and yesterday he bit my toe. Dang, that hurt. He didn't break the skin but not for lack of trying. 

He doesn't like the water being squirted on him. This is right out of my degree in applied psychology, (BS, Georgia Tech, 1973). If I continue to squirt him every time he heads towards my toes, he should quit heading my way. After a few days, he should be less interested. Then he will have one more major attack before giving up. At least, that's the classical stimulus-response pattern. 

Since I have self-created ADLD, attention deficit lethargic disorder, the condition of loosing interest and not particularly giving a shit, I suspect William will outlast me. I could just keep my feet up on the ottoman. This is an experiment in animal behavior. Which of us will change?

Small Green Iguana

While interacting with William, I noticed a small green iguana in the palm. According to a garden tour I took yesterday, Key B has green, black, and spiny tailed iguanas in addition to Cuban, Puerto Rican, green, brown, Knight's and other anoles, plus matejas, which seem to be an exotic lizard that burrows in the sand. I'm sure there are other lizards that the guide mentioned, but my ADLD kicked in. Considering most of these reptiles are not natives, that's a lot of pets that have escaped or been let loose.

At least we don't have the pythons from the Everglades. The snakes here are native rat snakes and racers, all good at keeping down undesirable bugs and little mammals.