During the past couple of days we have had around ten inches of snow. So what? Parts of the UK have had far more than that.
Well I’ll tell you so what!
A couple of days ago I discovered that we will have unexpected company for Christmas.
Henry hibernated on September 15th. A few years ago he would have hibernated later and emerged around mid-Februaryafter about 16 weeks. In recent years his hibernation has started earlier and the period of hibernation has become shorter. To re-emerge before Christmas is a new record. If this continues he will become a 100% indoor tortoise, hibernating briefly in the summer. Have any of my blog readers encountered a similarly awkward tortoise?
Oh my gosh, to both the snow and Henry! Ten inches of snow would paralyze Portland for weeks, we can barely cope with a couple inches. I’d be stuck in my house until the spring thaw.
So strange about Henry. I have no experience with tortoises so can’t offer any advice. Is there a local zoo that might have a reptile expert you could talk to?
Oh Henry!
I can’t comment on the traffic situation in the past 48 hours as I have not been out but Cardiff has kept moving, albeit slowly due to icy conditions, thanks to the commendable work of the Council, Police and Bus service.
As for Henry, I don’t think there is anything I can do about his hibernation timing other than to cope with the consequences, ie. take good care of him in the months in which he will stay indoors. The main thing is that he must not slip back into hibernation again. His “house” now occupies the space that belongs to my desktop easel and painting kit on a work surface in my “den” so that he can benefit from central heating and extra light during the next few months. And I also have to find him a varied diet. That is the difficult bit but I have had a few years experience (25+) and he has survived it!
Jo, at least I don’t have to take him for walks!!
Good heavens! Here I’ve been all a-twitter about Christmas (in the old-fashioned sense) and look what’s happened while my attention was elsewhere!
I must say Henry looks quite fine – do you suppose he just decided he wanted to experience the holidays for once? Perhaps Santa will bring him some especially fine lettuce. We begin to see dandelions here in late January on the south side of homes – shall I airfreight some?
Actually, I do know a turtle and tortoise expert. She’s disappeared from Weather Underground where she used to post quite a bit, but I’ll contact her after Christmas and see if she has any advice – or even just some knowledge of why his “sleep cycle” might be shortening.
Your mention of the diet made me smile. When I still had my fox squirrel, one of my chores every fall was to go out and gather acorns when they began to fall. I’d bag them and put them in the freezer, and he had natural food to supplement his diet all winter long. It did tend to startle people who peeked into the freezer, though.