Maybe people have moved on to bigger ones
One of the very first pets I ever had that was really mine — Just mine. No one else’s. Mine, mine, mine — was a box turtle, the one with the red ears. At that time, in the 1960s, one could walk into any Five & Dime store (LIKE if you know what a Five & Dime store is…..lol) or pharmacy and find these little red-eared box turtles for sale. My wise old grandmother finally bought me one after months of me bugging her.
I went on a neighborhood walk this morning with the Pacific Photographic Society. We explored Hillcrest, one of the nation’s gayest gay neighborhoods. Obviously San Diego’s gayest gay neighborhood, with some estimates putting the gay population at two out of three families. It’s an eclectic neighborhood; you never know what you might find or see while walking or driving through. This morning, as we peered over the fence at some Halloween decorations, we also saw this:
The shadows are people taking pictures. I thought about cloning them out, but I think they add a little extra interest.
It’s been decades since I’ve seen those little turtles for sale in a store. Not even a pet store. Maybe people have moved on to bigger turtles?
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Posted on October 14, 2012, in Fauna, Mother & Father Nature, Photos, Picture of the Moment and tagged hillcrest san diego pictures, tortoise pictures, turtle pictures. Bookmark the permalink. 37 Comments.
OMG
Zoey looks totally impressed …
I like turtles little or big. Your post would be good for a couple of weekly photo challenges. Mine and Big. Great photo’s. Thank you for sharing
I remember the Red Sliders we used to get at the five and dime. Remember the cute little plastic pond/moat with the palm tree in the middle? They stopped selling them because kids got Salmonella from sticking them in their mouths. Duh! I shudder to think how many I killed. I’d love to have a tank full now. I nominated you for another award too, hope you can live with yourself.
Oh, yes. Those little palm tree moats. So that’s why they quit selling them. Hmmm. Maybe those were the cleansing of the gene pool. After all, you and I didn’t have any problem!…….lol
Thanks for another award!
I think I’ve only seen a turtle that size at a zoo.
My mother took away my little turtle when the neighbor told her it caused salmonella. I’m sure she killed it. I think that’s why they aren’t seen so much — they can’t trust kids to wash their hands.
Personally I think there is so much sickness in the world because of all the disinfectants, washing hands, etc. I used to eat dirt! No telling what was in that, but I suspect it made my immune system stronger. By having homes that don’t have a single bacteria or virus in them, what does the immune system have to work against to become stronger? Nothing! So when one goes out into the world and comes in contact with something, one gets sick. Oh, well.
I don’t disagree. But then, my cat drinks my iced tea from my glass when I’m not looking. And I feed my dog ice cream off the same spoon I eat it with. My immune system is pretty healthy — and so are theirs!
I think if children would actually go outside and play in the mud, instead of sitting in a disinfected home playing on their disinfected iPods, they would be healthier.
He looks so real… Are you sure he’s not..!?!
He was real. He was walking around the yard.
Oh wow….. What a great photo catch! He certainly looks quite old and healthy. Obviously someone has loved him greatly…
You might not believe this, but I have a box turtle that comes around every year or so…and hangs around our pond. I love seeing him/her around! Great story!
Pictures! Pictures! We want pictures!………lol
I remember the turtles, the 5 and dime stories and the turtle races held at the local elementary school during summer months. We had fun…
Ooooooh, turtle races! I completely forgot about turtle races! And rat races, too, for those of us who had pet rats!
WOW! I’ve never seen a big turtle like that!!! Super cute!! haha
When you get to San Diego, and I take you to the San Diego Zoo, you’ll see the big, gigantic, huge, monstrous Galapagos tortoises. They weigh several hundred pounds and some are now a hundred years old.
I have 3 of them right now, African Spur Thigh tortoises. They were all rescued. I love ‘em. They’re like dinosaurs.
I’m jealous……..lol
One thing about the shadows is it gives a better perspective of the size of the tortoise…
Every kid had one of those in the UK, except me
I was never allowed one. Now you’d be hard press to find one..Shame, they are lovely creatures.
Mollie and Alfie
I grew up in England and we didn’t know about turtles, how ever we did have tortoises. I had one for years, his name was Dopey – he slept the winter through in a pile of leaves in my dad’s shed. In the spring and summer he competed with my cat for food by entering the kitchen by balancing on the step – swaying up, down until he gained his destination. I learned to make him ecstatic by tickling him under his chin…
The Galapagos tortoises at the San Diego Zoo like to have their chins rubbed. It’s always fun when an animals, even Zoey the Cool Cat, interacts with we lowly humans……..lol
That’s a huge turtle!
I used to have 2 red-eared sliders when I was little. For what I gather now they are nto easy to get, not because they don’t want to sell them but because of “bans” in some cities, people buy them thinking they gonna be the size of a quarter forever and then release them into the wild.
Thanks for your 4 votes.
I think grocery stores should ban the little Ficus trees that they sell for Christmas and Valentine’s Day. There’s no disclaimer that they can grow to 100 feet tall and 100 feet wide, and have destructuve roots, so do not plant them outside at the front door when they get too big for inside……………
-grin- I think they’ve moved on to ‘lol cats’.
Great photos!
Hey, I remember turtles and ‘five & dimes’. We had turtles as a class pet at school. I think they’re illegal here now? Don’t know why. I’ve heard these guys live a very long time, you need to put them in your will, like parrots…they’re part of the inheritance.
My sister and I had “matching” box turtles, but I think my dad got them from a friend rather than a store. We tried racing them, didn’t work. They liked eating hibiscus leaves. I don’t remember if they had names, will have to check with my sister if she remembers.
Most people will buy a four or five inch turtle, a twenty or thirty gallon tank with some pebbles, plastic plants and an insufficient filter. Within a year, you are going to have to upgrade. Unfortunately that not-so-cute-almost-abusive wives tale about turtles growing to the size of their environment, is not true and you will need at minimum, ten gallons of water for one inch of turtle. If your only taking into account the turtle and not the decorations or other inhabitants, aka food … then make that twenty to twenty five gallons per inch of turtle. When you upgrade a tank, you are going to have to upgrade the filter as well. The lights, heater, bubbler and possibly even the basking spot all need either upgrading or changing. You could help offset some of the cost of constantly upgrading, by going big the first time … trust me, your new little turtle will love you if you give him a large tank. He won’t drown, he’s an aquatic turtle, remember.
Little turtles are growing, RR, and Zoey TCC doesn’t care at all…lol
Hi Russel. Growing up in Detroit, I used to have a couple of those little dime store turtles with the red spot on their necks–we named them Ilya and Napoleon. Since you were born in 1955, I don’t have to tell you where those names came from. They were banned when I was still a kid, because they were carriers of salmonella, but on my recent trip to Turkey, I saw them in the open air pet market, piled up in the corners just like at the Kresge dime store where we got ours.
Sounds like “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”
Oh, yeah!
Lovely post Russell Ray. You never forget you’re first pet that was all your own – mine was a rabbit, he was a gorgeous big grey bunny who lived for six years and I treasured him.
I was amazed at your photo’s – what a find whilst you were out and about. They’re amazing creatures and It’s horrible to think that in some countries they aren’t cared for at all. I watched a program recently here in NZ about one of the pacific islands – I can’t remember which one – but the presenter rescued a huge turtle that had been caught and was being sold on a market stall for the money …pacific islanders with a stall selling whatever to whomever for an income.