Michael Ray's personal best

Late afternoon yesterday, I heard the turtles hard at work trying to ram their barricade down. Hours of this went by and I was feeling smug that I had finally created the sturdiest barricade ever because those two never let up and hours later, it was still standing. 

And so this morning, stepping outside to start getting my garden together (a very late start this year for some reason), I saw this immediately...can you see him? 

Oh, there he is...Michael Ray...and he has green all over his face so I'm assuming he's been chomping on grass. Could be a hosta though....could be a lot of things...

I don't think he's ever knocked down a barricade so early in the year. It was hot yesterday for the first time this year. And when a turtle gets hot, a turtle gets going and sometimes can't stop.

How do I punish such behavior from him? Spank him? His body is a tank. Scold him? He has no ears. Put him in a timeout? He'd probably like that...or he would knock the walls down. Nothing to do but give him his breakfast and acknowledge that he had won the battle (again) and that he was the man.

Mmmmm...tomatoes taste so much better than grass (or hosta, or peony or whatever he had been chomping on)...
And then he was off.

Back to the area with the knocked down barricade.

A turtle has to have his freedom if only to be able to choose for himself that the place you want to keep him, is the place he wants to be too.

By the way, Cathy Jean was hunkered down under what was left of the peony shrubs, looking a little guilty but I might be imagining that.