Monday, December 15, 2008

Chuck the turtle's terrifying ordeal.

I know this site is usually about the exploits of my handsome little Timmy, but yesterday our pet turtle Chuck gave us (and himself I'm sure) a big scare. Well anyway we bought Chuck a little over a year ago when he was about an inch long, to introduce Timmy to animals, and over the last year he has been a really fun little pet. It's actually one of Timmy's "chores" to feed Chuck (That and he is in charge of picking the cherry tomatoes, two jobs he does with pride). Well every week we clean out Chuck's tank (another job Timmy helps with), and we let Chuck roam the little shoe area in the entrance of the house. Well usually that is no problem, except that yesterday some furniture recycler guys (no idea what you would call them) came to pick up some furniture that we were getting rid of. Well when they left, they left the door open, allowing Chuck to go outside. The biggest problem with this is that we live on the fourth floor of our apartment. Chuck crawled out the door, and through a hole designed for draining rainwater, and ended up crawling over the ledge of the drain and fell the four stories down onto concrete. Well when I noticed the door was still open I rushed over to look for Chuck, looked over the edge and saw him laying on his back motionless. I was sure he had died from the fall (still not sure how he didnt.) well on the bottom floor of our apartment is a fastfood restraunt, and Chuck had fallen into a back gated off yard area, so we went into the restaurant to ask them to retrieve the body. They went and got it for us and Chuck moved a little, which surprised us. He looked bad, not moving, his neck fully extended (he always kept most of his neck tucked in his shell) Not sure what to do we placed him on a paper towel to rest in a quiet place (thinking he was probably going to die). We called the vet who was in surgery and would have to call us back. We left Chuck in peace, and when we came back a little while later he was walking around. We finally were able to speak with the vet, and the vet told us that as long as the shell was ok, he would probably be ok. I am still keeping a close eye on the turtle. Sorry this post was soo long, i was feeling sooo bad about the whole ordeal I felt like I should at least tell Chuck's story,


here is a pic of our apartment from the side Chuck fell, he fell from the little drain right next to the third flight of stairs.
Timmy is sitting in the shoe area the turtle was in, he crawled out this door and behind the trash can.
this is the drainage hole behind the trash can that Chuck crawled through.
this is the drain that is on the otherside of the hole where Chuck fell off of.

This is the view of where Chuck fell onto the concrete between that wall in the picture and the apartment.

This is the gated area behind the restaurant were we found Chuck lying motionless. the metal shelf wasnt back there yesterday.

Timmy holding Chuck, he really loves that little turtle.

Chuck relaxing in his tank after the whole ordeal.

Chuck on the floor.

Chuck in his tank saying hello.

Chuck swimming with the goldfish.




4 comments:

amelia said...

YOU ARE KIDDING ME! I can't believe Chuck survived. Long live Chuck!

Drew and Alicia said...

HOLY cow how did chuck not die thats crazy!!! Well I am happy the story had a happy ending I might have dried if it didn't. You know how emotional I am!

kme1981 said...

There is no way! I can't believe he survived that fall (and that you were able to find him)! I'm so glad he is ok and that Timmy has his little friend back! I bet Chuck won't mind if he never has a little outting again!

Unknown said...

All Hail Chuck! Nothing like a survivor.

PS-Happy Belated Birthday!