Don't box me out!

Unfortunately, it’s a common misconception: Put any pet animall who has wild counterparts in the outdoors and the animal will find a way to fend for himself. After all, that’s what animals are good at. But for one box turtle now under the care of Wild Friends (wildlife rehabilitation at Best Friends), it wasn’t a good idea whatsoever.

A couple of Best Friends volunteers found the turtle crawling along in the parking lot of a hotel in Kanab, Utah, the town just down the road from the sanctuary. They thought the turtle might be one of the endangered desert tortoises indigenous to the region. But alas, he was a box turtle who had been someone’s pet. With no awareness of how to defend himself from predators and no way of finding food, he really had no business being outside on his own.

When our licensed wildlife rehabilitator, Carmen Smith, brought the turtle to Best Friends, he was dehydrated and vitamin-deficient—in pretty bad condition, in other words. But now Lancelot (as we’ve named him) has had plenty of liquids and lots of nutritious meals in a well-humidified environment, so he’s in good shape, and available for adoption.

Story by Ted Brewer
Photo by Sarah Ause

If you are interested in adopting Lancelot, please contact Best Friends’ wildlife rehab staff at wild@bestfriends.org or (435) 644-3965, ext. 4460. Or, you may sponsor him, instead.