Pokey, Gumby and Prickle

Pokey, Gumby and Prickle

By Kelly Wallace

A question I often get asked is ‘why’ turtles? I’m not sure if I chose turtles or they chose me regardless it’s always been me and turtles, we go way back.

The younger version of me was drawn to turtles and fascinated by them. Growing up I talked about turtles a little, okay a lot and I bombarded my parents and grandparents with questions about turtles. Poor grandma got the worst of it when I think of all the turtle jokes she cheerfully endured.

My grandfather did his bit as well. When I started kindergarten it was a scary time for me being very shy. He bought me a small blue jade turtle that we named ‘Powder’ to keep in my pocket as a companion. That turtle went everywhere with me except when, oops, Powder went for a swim in the wash machine. Lost count of how many times I dropped that turtle and grandpa glued the head back on. It was a very sad day when Powder went missing and there was no suitable replacement to be found.

To lift my spirits my parents took me to the Canadian National Exhibition and bought me a brightly colored stuffed turtle. Things sure were different in the 1960’s, next thing I knew Myrtle and I were shuffled on to a ride, while my parents watched from a distance. The ride was called, the Snowball Express and was insanely fast. Sheer terror followed as I soon discovered I don’t much like rides. After that I remember screaming, crying, hanging on for dear life and Myrtle flying through the air. We were reunited when the ride ended and after that were inseparable.

On my sixth birthday I was given three red eared-sliders as pets. Again the 1960’s, a time when turtles were considered a great starter pet. Thankfully we know better now. A few weeks later mass hysteria erupted when Pokey somehow escaped from his little plastic island. A happy time for him I suspect until my dad ruined his plans and Pokey was found a couple days later while the vacuum made its way through the house. No, the obvious didn’t occur, but darn near and yes there were tears thinking Pokey was dead. Amazingly despite looking lifeless Pokey took to swimming around shortly after being returned to his plastic island as if nothing had happened. And yup, more tears but happy ones.

In grade 2 I took Pokey and my other sliders Gumby and Prickle to school for show and tell. That was a big day for me having never done anything like that before. It went okay until it did not.

After show and tell my turtles sat quietly basking in the sun shining through the window where their island had been placed for the duration of their visit to school. During recess a girl named Becky stood over my turtles glaring intently at them all the while telling me why turtles are so stupid. I did what anyone would do in the course of looking out for turtles and dumped the contents of the nearby canister of turtle food over her head. There was an exchange of words, Becky cried and the teacher’s voice winning out as I was escorted to the hall and instructed to stand there for the rest of the day to think about what I had done. When the teacher asked me if I was sorry, I said ‘no’ and was sent home with a note, caught heck for that, Myrtle gave it a high five. Sure hope Becky grew-up to view turtles differently.

Pokey, Gumby and Prickle outgrew their plastic island and moved into a large aquarium. I did my best to take care of them but they kept growing and the tank kept needing to be cleaned. My parents had to take over that chore and one day I came home to find they had found a new home for my turtles. That truly broke my heart. I went on a hunger strike in protest. Didn’t get my point across and wasn’t allowed to talk about turtles so Myrtle and I became advocates for other animals. Rescued a lot of worms. That didn’t garner much traction except the novelty of the ‘Easter Worm’ which got a few laughs. Then on to saving lobsters that got me into a world of trouble when I returned a fisherman’s lobster catch for the day back into the sea while visiting New Brunswick. Thought we were going for a boat ride. Myrtle agreed, it was the right thing to do. Had to write a letter apologizing to the man on the boat.

Soon after Myrtle and I got a chance to help frogs. It took a few weeks before anyone realized who was emptying the bait buckets at the trailer park we stayed at that summer. By fall think I wore my parents out and they surprised me with two red-eared sliders as pets. What happened after that was much the same the turtles got bigger and harder to take care of. I got Salmonella from handling them. My parents made me give the turtles up after that. It was the early 1970’s bad decisions were made.

Fast forward fifty years later after a lot has been learned and experience gained. The older version of me is so glad there is a better overall understanding of turtles and conservation. My parents and I made poor choices about turtle’s way back when because we did not know any better. These days we know better. Please do not purchase red-eared sliders or any non-native turtle species that may be available through a pet store, breeder or online source. They do not make good pets and it is not right that an animal intended for the wild (in their native home range) should end up in captivity. Adopt only if you have done considerable research to ensure you are up to the task.

To contact the author e-mail thinkturtle@yahoo.com or visit the Think Turtle Conservation Initiative website at http://www.thinkturtle.ca.

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