On Monday, we had a wonderful surprise!
We were taking Ellie into the backyard, and as soon as she turned the corner of the house, she went literally berserk! She was wagging her tail rapidly and went straight to the red kayak propped up against the wall of the house. I find difficult to describe the sound she was making. It was like a shriek, a whine, and a bark all rolled into one.
She was at the end of the kayak, trying to get between it and the wall. At first, I thought she might have found a cat there, but then I realized she only made that sound for one animal.
I walked over to the kayak, pulled it a little toward me and looked down. Yes, Percival was there! He had come home! Ellie was thrilled, I was thrilled and Glen was thrilled.
Thinking he might be a little hungry after his brumation (hibernation for reptiles) I went to get him some food.
We have not seen Percival since October, 7th of last year. I knew then he was nearing his brumation period because a few days earlier I had found him nestled in the leaves underneath one of our orange bushes. But I knew something Percival didn't know. I knew Glen planned to pull up that bush in a day or two. I uncovered Percival and spoke to him. I brought him some food and that was enough to encourage him to seek a new hiding place.
I don't know where he was all winter, but I suspect he was close. At the most, he was in or near the creek that borders our neighbor's property
Last Spring, we first saw Percival again on April 14th. But the soil is warmer now than it was then, and our highs this week will be in the 80s, so I suspected we might see him sooner this year and had been looking for him around the kayaks each day.
For those of you unfamiliar with Percival, he is the Box turtle who lives on our property. He is also a primary character in our children's book series "Ellie & Percival." If you would like to read how Ellie first found Percival, how he got his name, or how he became a member of our family, you can read that here.
It is amazing to me how much our family loves this turtle. Especially Ellie. She encounters other turtles, sometimes in our backyard or in the schoolyard where we walk each afternoon. Then she just casually looks and sniffs the turtle and goes back to her business. But Percival truly is her friend. We look for him, feed him and try to make sure he is safe as much as we can without disturbing his turtle way of life.
Everyday now until the fall, Percival will be a part of our lives...a part that we love.