We found this box turtle in our yard, right next to a very busy early commute Club Boulevard. What to do? Impetus one: Protect the little guy. Protect the little guy from whom? The traffic was not an immediate threat, only we three hominids musing above him represented peril to his morning wander. A quick Google search uncovered the NC box turtle’s endangered status. This, of course, spurned us on to further research, up to and including an email written to the NC box turtle protection council in Asheville. How to protect, preserve and return him to a habitat more box turtle hospitable? On this snapshot visit the little guy had caught a very large garden slug and was happily imbibing breakfast. Next time check, the turtle had progressed to the woods behind the house.
Awareness and presence. This guy had wandered into our yard with nothing more on Tortuga consciousness than where he might find his breakfast. We were the interlopers, as not awake hominids often are. In the guise of helping we sometimes cause unintended harm. Presence and awareness. Watch as nature restores balance without our help. If you cannot help at least do no harm.
The turtle ate a slug and went on his way. Buddha nature.
