Roxy the Box Turtle

Virginia is overflowing with wildlife.  Most come in the six legged variety, BLAG, but there are a few others that we have come to really enjoy.  We have seen many deer, a few opossums, beaver, skunks, rabbits, squirrels, foxes and even a coyote within a mile of our home.  The birds are bright and happy.  The lake provides us with frogs, toads, fish, muskrats and TURTLES. 

Spencer especially loves the turtles.  He has already saved two wandering turtles from imminent roadside danger.  Both were actually a type of tortoise, the Eastern Box Turtle.  He brought them both home, watched them, played with them and ultimately let them be his pets that live in our yard (which means they will, more than likely, never be seen again! )

He has enjoyed learning about them on the Internet and can tell you how to determine their sex and their age.  I suppose one of the perks of living out in the back forty is that you get to have wildlife encounters that can enrich your life and the lives of your children.  Here's hoping he doesn't feel the need to rescue a snake.  I can do without that kind of enrichment.