All Things Ellie - Ellie meets Percival

One day, Ellie and I were walking in the yard.  Her hound-nose led her to some large azalea bushes on the south side of the house.  This was not her usual "I'm smelling to see if there is something to find" smell, it was clearly her, "There is something here, let's go find it."  Underneath the Ligustrum bushes, Ellie encountered a turtle.  A Gulf Box turtle, to be exact.

At this point in my life, I knew almost nothing about turtles except that some could snap at you and bite you.  All Ellie knew was this critter smelled good (by her standards, not mine!) and she wanted to get closer.

I was intrigued, not only by the turtle but by Ellie's reaction to it.  She wasn't frightened at least and she also wasn't aggressive to it.  She did smell it quite a bit, though.

After that, every morning, Ellie looked for the turtle. Sometimes, he was under an azalea bush, sometimes under a hydrangea bush. Thanks to her wonderful sense of smell, she could always find him. The result was always the same: They looked at each other curiously, but neither showed any aggressive signs or even signs of running away. 

When Ellie met Percival

At some point we decided to bring something with us for the turtle, whom I began to think of as "Percival". (There is no rhyme or reason for this name, but it did form the basis of his character when the children's books began to be written.)  My husband read that turtles like greens, so we had some spinach in the house and took him some.  This is where the title for the first book, "Greens for Percival", came from.

Percival on the Carport

Later, we began to bring him little bits of chicken breast, which he really liked!  Ellie does too! Then, as summer started, we brought him some canteloupe.  Percival LOVES canteloupe!  This began a long season of Percival being part of our daily routine.  For a while, we would find him under the bushes along our driveway.  Then, he would be under our car!  We had to make sure each time we went somewhere that Percival was not under the car.  On more than one occasion, I had to move him out of the way.  One morning, Glen went out to find Percival standing at the door to our carport!

We all got so friendly with Percival that he started coming to us in the morning as soon as he saw us. (Of course, we realize it was because of the food, but we think he likes us, too!)

Last year, Percival found the perfect place for himself. We have some kayaks, which we store against the back wall of our house. He started living there. How do we know this? Ellie hunted for him until she found him there. So, each morning, Ellie and I would go to the kayaks, I would say, "Good morning, Percival," and he would come trotting right out to see us.  

This past fall, when Percival left to brumate (the reptile version of hibernation), Ellie looked for him at the kayaks every morning.  After a few days, she sniffed and sniffed and then turned back toward me with her head tilted in that very cute way she has as if to say, "Mom, where is he?"

Last year, he came back around Easter, so we will begin looking for him about that time this year, too.

Hello! I am Percival! I am very pleased to meet you!
"Any friend of Ellie's is treasured by me!"