We were inside no longer than 45 minutes tops, and when we went back outside, he was gone. Just gone.
Miles Gamera enjoyed the playpen my wife built for him in our backyard. Bordering a neighbor’s fence, it was squared off by small, black, plastic portable fencing and outfitted with rocks (he loves parkour) and a little hut for him to snuggle under. We never thought our 5-year-old tortoise would be able to dig deep enough to slip beneath both fences and get out.
We were wrong. And we haven’t been the same since.
My 12-year-old and I have done everything possible to find him. We talked to the neighbors and left notes on others’ doors, saying, “Be on the lookout for an evidently not-so-slow, ornery, splendiferously shelled foliage-green turtle who only by his sufferance answers to the name Miles Gamera.” We scoured the nearby field for traces of him. We’ve even been leaving out his favorite foods at night.
Photo by Anthony Mariani.
Still nothing.
Miles’ disappearance — we dare not say “death” — has been hard on all of us but especially our son. A. has broken down a few times, sobbing, kicking himself not just for his absence during the escape (I swear, it was only a few minutes) but also for not loving on that grumpy little fella enough, for not chatting with him as A. often did more and for not stroking Miles’ shell more.
And isn’t it that way for all of us with our pets? Because we’re humans and we simply don’t deserve them?
Dogs, cats, reptiles, birds, horses, chickens, racoons — they’re all better than us, and they’re all entitled to so much more than what we selfish, shortsighted, busy bipeds will ever be able to give them, though most of us will try and will savor every minute of it.
A pet is a manifestation of pure love. Affection? You can’t stroke their fur, feathers, or scales enough. Companionship? Our sweet little mini-Aussie Comet literally tackles us at our ankles to force us to rub her soft belly. Fun? See: previous answer. And love? No one will ever be as glad to see you as your best boys and girls.
For our third annual Creature Comforts issue, we celebrate our amazing animals by taking a closer look at how to care for them, learn more about them, conserve them, and love them better (which will never-ever be good enough, but it’s our duty to Mother Nature herself to try).
On pg. 21, we have some info on a few area nonprofits helping pets and their parents during crises. There are some completely made-up superlatives for some residents of the Fort Worth Zoo on pg. 9, and on pg. 16, we get up close with Fossil Rim Wildlife Center, a Top 3 breeding location in the country while also a pretty cool stop for an exotic-animal vehicular tour.
I’d tell you more, but I’ve got to gather myself to check if the lettuce and cucumbers we left out last night are still there. I hate that they will be. #ForeverMiles
Read about how hundreds line up in the Stockyards for the twice-daily cattle drives in our feature article about The Herd.
