This is SCRATCH

Introducing......drum roll please....SCRATCH!  Our pet. 

 

 

 

When your husband comes home and he prefaces what he is about to say with a "Now, honey, don't get mad, but...." you never know what is coming next.  As Laura braced herself for whatever  Clay was going to say next, she was not ready or expecting his next few words... "I brought home ANOTHER turtle."  Laura was relieved, but at the same time also a little put out....didn't he learn last time?  Obviously, from his use of the word, "Another" turtle, this isn't the first time Clay has brought a turtle home with him.

 

 

The last time was when we were living in Oklahoma.  Preston was a few weeks old, and Clay comes home with a rather large turtle that he had rescued off the side of the road.  It was huge and covered with moss....dirty and gross.  Nothing about this turtle was cute, and it just emanated feelings and thoughts of dirtiness....NOT what Laura wanted around her new born son.  So, the turtle was quickly rejected as a pet and released into the wilds of the Oklahoma ponds and park.

 

So..as Laura heard these words this time, she cringed.... but this New Mexico turtle was different.  It was small, cute, clean, and we don't have a new born baby at home.  All these things lead to the turtle being accepted and adopted into the family.  Her name came quickly and easily as her nails would scratch the kids as they held her...she became SCRATCH overnight. 

 

 

 

 

 

 The thing that really sold Laura on the idea was...our backyard is set up perfectly for her.  Our fence is secure enough that she can have free reign and roam the backyard freely and not get out.  So she has quite a big "cage" to keep herself happy, plus Laura doesn't have to clean a cage, find someone to take care of our pet when we are gone, we do feed her things here and there, but not like feeding an animal several times a day!  It is great!  Every day we go out and have a Scratch hunt....our personal scavenger hunt every day!  We find her burrowed in the dirt by the fence, under leaves by the air conditioning unit, in tall grass, walking along the fence...she has a few favorite places..but she is always out there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scratch even seems to take all the petting and holding well too.  A definite plus in our family!  When you think of turtles, you think of these really slow creatures that move a little distance in a long period of time...oh no...not Scratch.  Boy can she book it!  She is a fast little thing.  She can get across our yard, or away from a child in nothing flat!!!  Detric has also taken to trying to walk/crawl like a turtle!  It sure is fun to have her.  I think we'll keep ya!