Bruce on the Loose

Today was the first day in over a week that I didn't get to see my cute little Turtle friend's face when I woke up this morning. Yesterday was a bitter sweet day for me, when we found Bruce's home.
It all started when we made plans to pick up a 150 gallon tank from one of our friends. My brother said he would be happy to have Bruce stay with him, so we were working to get the whole set up to make him a Turtle Palace aquarium. We did a little more research on all the equipment that he would require, and we found ourselves a little over our heads, and short on time since we had him in a 56 gallon storage tub with bricks for him to bask on, when ideally a pond is where he really belonged.

So my next thought (it broke my heart) was to search for a local Turtle rescue, i just couldn't bare to take him to the pet store. At this point I was so attached, and all I wanted was for him to be healthy and have a safe home.
During our search, Matt's mom called and told us to go to Google earth to see a sky view of our neighborhood, and what do you know there was a HUGE pond just down the street, that the green belt behind our house led to. This HAD to be Bruce's home. This pond was on someone's property, so we found our way into their gated community (following a car in, so slick haha) and we made our way to their gated driveway. I wonder what they were thinking when Matt called their intercom saying " I think I have a turtle from your pond". The gates opened after a brief conversation of turtle talk, and we were greeted at the bottom of the longest driveway with the residents on their golf cart, drink in hand, all smiles and waving. They were the sweetest! we talked about how they rescue turtles and they have over 20 in their Pond (that is as big as over 4 huge pools put together!) The pond was complete with lilly pads, rocks to bask on, and cat fish. THIS was Turtle paradise! We found the route that Bruce must have escaped from, and they have made plans to cover it with chicken wire to prevent any future tricky turtle escapades.
So it was time to say goodbye...with tears in my eyes I set Bruce back on his way.

It felt good knowing he was back at home. We watched him swim across the pond and he looked so happy! But I don't think I will ever forget this face

I can't really explain the feeling I have when I think of what could have happened if he never made it to our yard. My Aunt was the one who found him roaming through our garden, and if it weren't for her, he would have gone unnoticed. We were so happy to take care of him, and went to great lengths to make sure he got back to where he came from. I am grateful we had the chance to save him, and the weight on my heart as been lifted now that he's home. The owners offered to let us come by whenever we wanted to visit, and I will most likey be taking them up on their offer :)