Five years ago, my husband found a baby turtle at his workplace. He knows I love turtles, so he brought it home to me. (One of the best gifts ever!)
No doubt, as was usually the case, I needed something to blog about, so I wrote a little story about the plight of the turtle with accompanying photos.
Far and away, it has been my most viewed post, with 27,133 views to date. Why? Because of this one photo.
Google Images, as they often do, picked this up from my blog. And I was okay with that because it brought a lot of traffic to my site. Anytime someone googled "photo of baby turtle" or just "turtle", that image would be near the top of the list. If they clicked on the photo, they went directly to this blog.
But last year, and I just recently discovered this, something sinister happened. Someone lifted the photo from Google Images and put it in a redit post. Now, when you google "photo of turtle", this image will still come up, although not nearly as close to the top, and when you click on it, it takes you to that redit post. No mention of my blog. Anywhere. As the original owner of this photo, I have lost credit for it.
So, I am re-posting this original entry for two reasons; one, to entertain readers who may not seen it five years ago. This was back in the days before I was on Facebook or the Southwest Daily News website. And two, in hopes that Google Images will again pick it up from here and once again bring traffic to my blog.
Thanks for listening to my lament. And for reading. Enjoy this little story!
Baby Turtle Finds a Home
One day, as Bob left work, he spied a baby turtle in the gravel outside his office door.
“How did you get here?” said Bob. “And what are you doing? You can’t stay here at the plant. You’ll get run over by a scooter. Or fall into a bin of silica. Or stumble into a tank of chlorine. I know. I’ll take you home. Angie loves turtles.” So Bob picked up Baby Turtle and put him in his lunch box.
Once home, Bob found a large glass jar and made Turtle a nice home with fresh water and aquarium rocks. He placed a life-like plastic turtle in the jar so Turtle wouldn’t feel lonely. He fed Turtle some fish food.
Angie came home and she indeed loved Turtle. “Oh, he’s so beautiful!”
But Turtle wasn’t happy. He didn’t like fish food. He couldn’t climb the high slippery glass walls of his little house. His “friend” wouldn’t move and Turtle suspected he was dead. The fresh water soon turned muddy. And Turtle was hungry.
Bob looked online and discovered red-eared sliders are omnivores – they eat anything. So Angie gave Turtle spinach and a piece of sweet juicy peach. Bob gave him a broccoli floret and a chunk of chicken. But Turtle still wouldn’t eat. He wanted OUT!
So Bob and Angie put Turtle and his little house into the car and drove him to Holbrook Park. They found a nice quiet spot along the bank of the bayou. A spot where Turtle could swim and eat and make new friends.
After saying goodbye and wishing Turtle the best of luck in his future, Angie placed Turtle on the sandy ground. Slowly at first, then picking up speed, Turtle scurried to the water and dove in.
A small minnow immediately swam up to greet Turtle, and Turtle made his first new friend. (minnow in right lower quadrant)
“Nice to meet you,” said Turtle to minnow, “but right now I’m really hungry and I must find something to eat.” And off Turtle swam in search of food. (Turtle in left lower quadrant)
Hopefully, this blue heron didn’t find Turtle first.
No doubt, as was usually the case, I needed something to blog about, so I wrote a little story about the plight of the turtle with accompanying photos.
Far and away, it has been my most viewed post, with 27,133 views to date. Why? Because of this one photo.
Google Images, as they often do, picked this up from my blog. And I was okay with that because it brought a lot of traffic to my site. Anytime someone googled "photo of baby turtle" or just "turtle", that image would be near the top of the list. If they clicked on the photo, they went directly to this blog.
But last year, and I just recently discovered this, something sinister happened. Someone lifted the photo from Google Images and put it in a redit post. Now, when you google "photo of turtle", this image will still come up, although not nearly as close to the top, and when you click on it, it takes you to that redit post. No mention of my blog. Anywhere. As the original owner of this photo, I have lost credit for it.
So, I am re-posting this original entry for two reasons; one, to entertain readers who may not seen it five years ago. This was back in the days before I was on Facebook or the Southwest Daily News website. And two, in hopes that Google Images will again pick it up from here and once again bring traffic to my blog.
Thanks for listening to my lament. And for reading. Enjoy this little story!
Baby Turtle Finds a Home
One day, as Bob left work, he spied a baby turtle in the gravel outside his office door.
“How did you get here?” said Bob. “And what are you doing? You can’t stay here at the plant. You’ll get run over by a scooter. Or fall into a bin of silica. Or stumble into a tank of chlorine. I know. I’ll take you home. Angie loves turtles.” So Bob picked up Baby Turtle and put him in his lunch box.
Once home, Bob found a large glass jar and made Turtle a nice home with fresh water and aquarium rocks. He placed a life-like plastic turtle in the jar so Turtle wouldn’t feel lonely. He fed Turtle some fish food.
Angie came home and she indeed loved Turtle. “Oh, he’s so beautiful!”
But Turtle wasn’t happy. He didn’t like fish food. He couldn’t climb the high slippery glass walls of his little house. His “friend” wouldn’t move and Turtle suspected he was dead. The fresh water soon turned muddy. And Turtle was hungry.
Bob looked online and discovered red-eared sliders are omnivores – they eat anything. So Angie gave Turtle spinach and a piece of sweet juicy peach. Bob gave him a broccoli floret and a chunk of chicken. But Turtle still wouldn’t eat. He wanted OUT!
So Bob and Angie put Turtle and his little house into the car and drove him to Holbrook Park. They found a nice quiet spot along the bank of the bayou. A spot where Turtle could swim and eat and make new friends.
After saying goodbye and wishing Turtle the best of luck in his future, Angie placed Turtle on the sandy ground. Slowly at first, then picking up speed, Turtle scurried to the water and dove in.
A small minnow immediately swam up to greet Turtle, and Turtle made his first new friend. (minnow in right lower quadrant)
“Nice to meet you,” said Turtle to minnow, “but right now I’m really hungry and I must find something to eat.” And off Turtle swam in search of food. (Turtle in left lower quadrant)
Hopefully, this blue heron didn’t find Turtle first.
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1 comment:
Swim, little Turtle, swim!
Thanks for reposting this.
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