Goines On: The turtle snaps

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Goines returned to the big green electrical box where he had seen the turtle two hours earlier, right before he texted George its precise location. He had not heard from George, and Goines was apprehensive what he would find this time. There had been that tractor clearing brush, so there was even the possibility the turtle might have been….
    Goines couldn’t complete the thought, but he might have to try, because the depression beside the electrical box was empty now, no turtle, and not that much vegetation any more for it to have crawled into.
    Goines texted George again. And back came the happy news that George had retrieved the Snapping Turtle – Goines now had a species! George had placed her – it was a female – in a tub of water to cool off and hydrate. He reckoned she was over 40 years old. He thought she would be fine. He would release her in one of the several “release areas” recommended to him by wildlife officers, park rangers, forest rangers, state biologists, and others over his many years doing rehabilitation. “Snapping turtles can become pests if released in the wrong place.” Her home place had certainly become no right place for her.

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