I joined Calvin and his class for a beach field trip up in Marblehead. I was in charge of the tide pool station, and as I was collecting creatures for the children to look at, I found a painted turtle struggling in the harbor.
A quick google search confirmed that painted turtles require a fresh water habitat, so after spending the morning as our star tide pool [guest] specimen, I brought it home to relocate it to a pond.
The kids took right to "her," and Calvin named her Shelly. She's missing a leg, but makes up for her lost limb with spunk and determination, and was constantly trying to swim through the plastic holding bin we had her in.
Here's the release video:
Calvin was pretty upset afterward, and went through all the stages of grief. He worried about things like her being lonely, never having a family, being eaten by predators, and getting lost. He's settled into acceptance and knows that we can go visit her pond and try to catch a glimpse of her in her new life.
