Fear the Turtle? Why yes, I do.

This morning I was walking down High Street when I saw what I was sure was a rabid rat.  I've never seen a possum before, and as passerby started commenting on the injured possum and I realized I am lacking in animal identification skills.

It looks like a rat, no?  Lucky for you, I took the picture at an angle such that you can't see this poor guy's broken, bloody leg.  A family noticed the little guy sitting on the street, mouth wide open and staring sadly at everyone who walked by.    Realizing that he couldn't move, the Dad of the family found a couple of sticks nearby and used them to pick the possum up and move him to the sidewalk.  I of course, still think that it's a rat who is going to give me rabies and am keeping my distance, which I'm able to do thanks to the impressive zoom lens on my camera. 

A sorority girl walks by (I recognized some sort of Greek letters on her shirt) and decides to call 911 to get someone to come help the possum.  This'll be good I thought, I at least need to stay here long enough to watch this girl get bitched out by a 911 dispatcher.  As expected, girl hangs up and informs her boyfriend that the 911 dispatcher was really angry.  I decide to leave: the possum's sad eyes are too much for me - what am I going to do, put him in my purse, take him home, and nurse him back to health?  

This is precisely what my family recently decided to do for Tommy, a baby terrapin turtle they found trapped in their storm drain a few days ago and decided to keep until he gets big enough to be released into the wild.  If you're familiar with the University of Maryland, you know that our Fear the Turtle slogan is not a joke; turtles may not sound scary, but terrapins will bite the shit out of you, though apparently not until they get a little older. 

I learned from my mom that because Terrapins are endangered you're actually required to go through a certification course in order to be legally allowed to keep one as a pet.  Let's all take a minute to think about the lack of any requirements for people raising children, and then take a minute to think about the fact that you have to be certified to take care of a turtle......

Processed that yet?  Ok, good.

I'm glad there are nicer people than me in the world who care about sick, injured, and/or abandoned animals.   I didn't become a vegetarian because I care about animals - I did it because I am thoroughly, 100% grossed out by them.   Occasionally though, nature gets the better of me, and even if I can't make myself get near a sad animal that needs help, I come home and listen to this to remind myself that we are all connected - people that I like, people that I don't like, animals that I'm completely disgusted by, and nature in general.