Tortoises and Hares

(Originally posted May 26, 2011)

It’s a big week for the animal kingdom.

Last Monday was World Turtle Day (yay for Noko). According to Wikipedia, the purpose of World Turtle Day is “to bring attention to, and increase knowledge of and respect for, turtles and tortoises, and encourage human action to help them survive and thrive.” Small animals like turtles are often taken for granted. They seem so small, insignificant and commonplace, that it is easy to forget how much help they need.

Here’s some useful trivia about turtle keeping:

• Some species of turtles have become endangered largely because of people collecting them as pets. If you see a wild turtle, leave it be. (It’s okay to admire it a little first.)

• If you already own a turtle, don’t set it free either. Pet shop turtles are often disease carriers. They’ve build up their own immunities in captivity, but these diseases can still harm the wild population. (Weird, huh?)

• Remember to keep your pet turtles clean, as all birds and reptiles carry small amounts of salmonella. (Why is so much of my trivia is about disease?)

We are also in the middle of Rabbit Awareness Week (May 23 to May 29) which is pretty much that same as turtle day, except for rabbits. Actually, Rabbit Awareness Week is more focused on the proper care of domestic rabbits that are kept as pets or livestock. If you own a rabbit, you are encouraged to stop and take a moment to see if you are meeting its five basic needs:

• Environment
• Behavior
• Diet
• Companionship
• Health

As you may know, I own one turtle and no rabbits. So I’d like to see how my fictional rabbits stack up on having their basic needs met.

Environment: Dynamite and Detonator live at the Grass Roots House. It’s a cooler climate than they are used to, so they compensate by dressing in layers. Food and water is available. I suspect that they are litter trained and clean their own sandbox (it hasn’t come up yet).

Behavior: No comment.

Diet: Hmm, probably not very good. They are feeding themselves. They have a fair amount of common sense on what’s safe to eat. Still, I bet they fill up on junk food a lot. Clayton may need to intervene.

Companionship: They got each other. D’waaaa!

Health: The boys get plenty of exercise, have regular check-ups, and always wear adequate safety gear when operating explosives. What else can you ask for?

Whatever critters are sharing you lives, may they stay healthy and happy.

-Marj

Hooray for Filler

(Originally posted March 3, 2011)

I've been working late and I'm too tired to string enough words together for my weekly blog. But I refuse to leave you empty handed. So I've decided to give you good people what you really want. Some photos of my beloved pet, and our beloved mascot: Noko Noko the Box Turtle

Noko loves it when you visit Lepus Studios. He also loves it when you tell your friends about this fine website or link to it or follow us on Facebook.

Just look how happy you've made him!

-Marj

The Tao of Noko

(Originally posted Dec. 3, 2010)

This Blog Discusses:

Noko Noko

Nature

Root Beer

The other day, I went shopping for Noko Noko, the turtle. I bought him some clean pine bark for bedding, water purifier with added calcium vitamins, reptile disinfectant, dry skin conditioner, and a new humidity gauge (I think his old one is broken). It would be fun if I could save these items for Christmas and let Noko have presents too, but the sad truth is that there is not one thing in that bag that can wait for those three weeks until Christmas. I'd rather not wait for a holiday to kill the salmonella germs, if it's all the same to the rest of you.

This has made me more aware of how everything that Noko enjoys is also a necessity. Meals, exercise, burrowing, soaking in water and basking under a heat lamp are really Noko's greatest and only pleasures. And he needs all of those things to stay alive and healthy. He honestly doesn't like toys, treats or anything else that's superfluous to his survival.

I would love to make some profound statement on how it would be a perfect world if we could all be like turtles and enjoy only the things we needed. But we all know it wouldn’t be perfect. It would be kind of boring and uninspiring. For better or worse, humans really do need treats, entertainment, root beer and other distractions. I'm glad that I have the capacity to enjoy them, even if they can make life a hassle.

It’s just kind of neat that Noko doesn’t need them. Good for Noko.

-Marj

Take Your Turtle to Work Day

(Originally posted April 23, 2010)

We celebrated Earth Day on Thursday (April 22). If I were a better planner, I probably would have tried to have the "Animal Shelter" story fall on Earth Day. Oh well.

Thursday was also my day to teach art classes at the elementary school. I thought it would be a treat for the students if my lovable pet and Lepus Studios mascot, Noko-Noko, came with me. As you know from reading the "About" page, Noko is my box turtle. I brought him to school so the kids could make turtle-themed art projects out of recycled materials. We also talked about how people protect endangered animals and how students could conserve materials in the classroom. I know, connectig the two ideas is a bit of a stretch, but conservation is an important lesson for young students and I wanted to present it in a memorable way.

Anyway, Noko was on his best behavior. He never escaped from his cage in front of anyone but me, and he only peed on one student (don't worry, I packed his disinfectant cleaner).

At the end of the day, I think everyone had fun, learned some things, and walked away with some lovely memories. In fact, as I was leaving the building, I could hear the students in the parking lot running to their parents and excitedly announcing, "Mom, Ms. Rishel had a turtle and it peed in class!"

I like to think I made a difference.

-Marj