Maverick's 5th Anniversary

Our favorite tortoise is celebrating his 5th Anniversary as a member of our family. Five years ago this weekend Rob and I had a crazy idea while sitting in a Red Robin over lunch. We wanted a pet but knew that our landlord wouldn't approve of any ordinary domesticated animal. We'd have to have something that didn't shed, didn't make noise, didn't destroy furniture, or smell. That limits our options quite a bit. "TURTLE", we thought. With spontanity and no real understanding of what this meant, we were off to find a turtle to bring home. Long story long, we brought home Maverick.

If you look closely at the picture you'll see the black line around the scutes on his shell. This is proof of his life with us. Turtle are much like trees and they grow a ring around each scute for every year of life. The reason our rings stand out so dark is because he is finally being fed a healthy diet after years of improper nutrition. The Vet always tells us what an old man he is and as you can tell he is probably around 30-40 yrs with another good 40 to go. Happy Anniversary Maverick.


Toby asked Maverick to sing into the microphone. He quacked the best rendition of Sinatra's "Come Fly With Me" that I've ever heard. He's so multi-talented.




This is my favorite picture of Maverick from Halloween 2003. He was a bumble bee.