Tenacious, Little Turtle!

One peculiar aspect of Florida life is that of roadside turtle rescue. While driving, I often see turtles crossing the road, and make it a point to stop and get them to a safer location. I like turtles (and what kind of monster would I be if I didn't like turtles?).

I either pull off to the side of the road or stay in the lane and click on my hazard lights, depending upon traffic. From there, I have two methods of turtle removal. If it's a non-snapping turtle, I simply pick him up and carry the creature to safety. If it happens to be a snapping turtle, I tap him on the butt with my shoe, and this will generally get the turtle to pick up and hurry on across the road. Some snapping turtles, the soft shell in particular, are able to stretch their necks all the way around to their behinds, making it a bit risky to pick them up.

One time I came upon a turtle while on County Road 214 and pulled off to the side of the road. It was a snapping turtle, not the soft-shelled variety but definitely a snapper, but still I figured this would be a routine turtle rescue mission. After all, he wasn't very big, weighing maybe ten or fifteen pounds (turtles are solidly built and surprisingly heavy, so it's tricky to estimate).

I go with the standard tap to the back, with the intention of prodding him along. Instead, he did something completely unexpected: jumped up, spun about, and lunged for me. In my experience, this is atypical behavior for a turtle. Startled, I jumped back, barely escaping his attack.

Being a rational creature of logic, I decided to take a little time to decide upon my next move. The turtle, however, was not hampered with such higher orders of mind. And so, while I stood in uffish thought, he redoubled his attack, charging me yet again.

He came at me and I backed away. Around and around we went like this. Even though he was a ten-pound turtle, and I was a 150-pound human, I am sad to report that he, not I, was the alpha male of County Road 214 that day.

I dashed to the car and retrieved an umbrella and held the end out to him. Fortunately, he took to attacking the umbrella instead of yours truly, and I was able to convey him away from the road once he latched onto the steel tip.

Now, was I angry with the turtle for coming after me when I was simply trying to help him? Did I hold animosity for the creature? No, of course not. Instead, I sought to learn from him and emulate his determination and tenacity.

When I find myself blocked on a novel, I have merely to wonder what the tenacious, little turtle would do. Would he stop and think things over? No, of course not! He would attack the keyboard with his little turtle claws like Jerry Lee Lewis at the piano. Would the turtle give up, simply because the project looked overwhelmingly massive? No way!

So when you're tempted to put off a writing project for another day, don't. Be like the tenacious, little turtle instead.

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