That Cosmic Question

I was saving this for a rainy day because it's a story with no pictures (or proof for that matter). But in the first week that we were here, I had seen a turtle down in the creek. Now there is a picture in a previous post of this turtle so refer back several posts for that.

After telling Erica that I had seen this rather large turtle we took a walk down to the creek to see if we could catch another glimpse of it, but we got more than we bargained for. What we saw brought about a question: "Turtle-dovin' or Turtle-lovin'?"

As we stood on the bridge in the creek we witnessed not one turtle, but two. At first it looked as if they were fighting, then as if they were dancing. What we finally realized is that they were mating. I don't know about you, but I had never seen such an event. One turtle would chase around the other and eventually the two would belly up with one another. I can't say that it is a scientific fact that this is the way turtles do things, but it is what we saw.

They weren't perfectly face to face necessarily, but they still seemed to be magnetized to one another. One head would raise out of the water and then the other. All appendages were outstretched and they waded around in the shallow water. They eventually disconnected and within minutes were connected again.

We stood watching this for at least ten minutes, the entire time not believing what we were seeing. The only place that anyone had seen turtles in the creek was down by what some call "Valerie's car," where an inlet of water reaches up near the pole barn. It's called Valerie's car because her father told her that if she wanted a car, she could have that one. Eventually, the turtles spotted us thanks to a cow or two trouncing through the creek. They also stopped to have a look, but by that time the party was over.

The next day or so, Linda saw one of the turtles again up on the bank of the creek, presumably laying her eggs. We can only assume this, but since that time this is the same area that we've seen a couple of brown snakes, which helps me believe that what we thought had happened, had happened.

I said to Erica: "Are they turtle-dovin' or turtle-lovin'?" I pose this question to the universe now and until someone else witnesses this event, we will not know the true answer. Good luck on your local turtle hunts, we hope you get more than you bargain for.