Who doesn’t miss their pets while on vacation? If you can take them along to a critter-friendly locale, that’s excellent. If you can’t, it’s better to find a sitter. And if you’re trying to smuggle your pet turtle onto a plane inside a hamburger, it’s time to rethink your entire life. [More]
turtles
1,600 Turtles Break Out Of Farm, Slowly Crawl To Freedom
By 7.20.12
It’s like a real-life version of the movie “Chicken Run,” only without Mel Gibson and much, much slower. Near Summerville, Georgia, there is a turtle farm. Thousands of adult turtles, all native species to the southern United States, live in ponds on the property. Thanks to vandals or scrap metal thieves, breaks in the fence have allowed the turtles to wander off the property, taking up residence in surrounding waterways. The operation is something like a hatchery, and about 1,600 of the 2,200 turtles that form its breeding stock have run away. [More]
Tiny Turtle Makes AirTran Return To Gate, Girls Forced To Get Rid Of Pet Before Reboarding
By 6.25.10
Maybe it was Michelangelo and they were afraid he would eat up all the in-flight pizza. A 10-year old girl’s teensy turtle posed enough of a risk to an AirTran flight that the plane was forced to turn around and return to the gate. The girl and her sisters were told they could not get back on the plane with the turtle. [More]
Tiny Turtles Spread Joy, Salmonella
By 10.19.09
Turtles remain a popular pet with kids. In 1975 the U.S. banned the sale of ones smaller than 4 inches, but the American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) estimates almost 2 million were being kept as pets as of 2006. They’re also responsible for one of the slowest outbreaks of salmonella we’ve seen in recent years.
Turtles In Heat Shut Down J.F.K. Runway
By 7.12.09
78 turtles ambled out of Jamaica Bay on Wednesday to make sweet, sweet love all over one New York City’s busiest runways. It took Port Authority workers 35 minutes to shut down the impromptu nightclub, but the damage was done and travelers at J.F.K. experienced delays of up to an hour and a half.
By 2.2.08
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Good news, bad parents. Little Timmy can sleep safer now that you accidentally flushed his turtle down the toilet. According to the Centers for Disease Control, illegal pet turtles have caused 103 cases of salmonella in 33 states. [CDC]
