Turtle On The Run

I own two turtles, Luigi and Smalls. For the past couple of years they have been living in a typical 20 gallon aquarium. During their time in the tank Luigi has made several daring attempts to escape. And when I say daring...I mean stupid. You see turtles are not too bright. All of these attempted escapes consisted of Luigi pulling himself over the wall of the tank...only to fall 4 feet to the ground. Then I would spend 15 minutes looking for him, only to find him cowering in his shell under the turtle stand. Not exactly a great escape plan. If I were Smalls, I would be pissed that Luigi keeps leaving me behind but I would really enjoy making fun of him when he inevitably gets returned to the tank.

So anyway, they have gotten way too big for their 20 gallon tank, so this summer I installed a pond for them in my backyard. Knowing Luigi's history I tried to make it the turtle version of Alcatraz. And as usually happens in prison breaks everything was going fine until the guards (me) made a crucial error. The pond water was a little low so I turned on the hose and started adding water while I ate my breakfast. Then I went to work...forgetting to turn off the hose. I can just visualize Luigi's eyes lighting up at this turn of events.

I didn't even realize that I had left the hose on until one of my housemates called around 4:00pm. By this time the hose had been running for about 7 hours. The reason my friend was calling was to tell me that one of my turtles, Luigi of course, was currently chillin' in my backyard swimming pool! I mean this had to be the most excited turtle in the world. All his years of planning escapes had finally paid off. Rest assured he was returned to his pond, but I'm sure I will never be able to keep him in there. He knows there is a much bigger "pond" only 10 feet away. But I will get my revenge. At some point he will escape only to find that his mystical turtle tank now has a pool cover on it...and I will get the last laugh.