Sharing the Path

After yesterdays tough dog decision, I needed to get out into the sunshine...to see and smell some nature.

My friend Doug and I are still in training for a walk on the Appalachian Trail in October. So, we again loaded up the backpacks, (mine is named Rucksanne) and hit the dusty trail.

We shared it with 2 deer, 2 snakes, 1 frog, many butterflies and moths, countless mosquitoes (boo! hiss!), and this handsome painted turtle.

He wouldn't get out of the trail...even for a guy who used to deliver the mail.

I let out a yell...raising my voice a decibel..."HEY MAXWELL! DO I NEED TO EXPEL...BOTH YOU AND YOUR SHELL?"

Maxwell stayed put in the path...
continuing his sunbath.

I thought about capturing him, and training him for a year to enter the turtle races at CCC (Corpus Christi College.) Check out the picture here. Wouldn't Chamaeleo be surprised?

In the end...I decided that since I couldn't even move him off the path...that he probably wouldn't be a good racer.