Exactly 10 years ago, we got a red foot tortoise as a pet. Ningami was a friendly creature who liked to have his shell rubbed and would do a little dance when he was happy. He roamed around my floor and patio eating lettuce and hiding in cardboard boxes. He was a good tortoise.
Now that our children are older and all moved out of the house, I had been thinking about whether to keep him as a pet. You can’t (to my knowledge) potty train them to do their business outside. Also, I had been thinking that Ningami had lived his entire life without interacting with other tortoises, which made me sad.
Last week, I was sick with either the flu or possibly with salmonella. I say this because of this Gizmodo article about a turtle salmonella outbreak. Needless to say, it was not a fun week. While I was recovering I decided to do a little googling and see if there were places that might be a better home for Ningami.
I came across Tortoise Acres. First of all, this website is amazing. Sometimes, as a designer, you see something that is so UN-designed that it somehow pops out the other side of bad and becomes awesome. Look at a piece of the navigation.
MeetTheTortoises, one word, no spaces and then immediately after that Meet MORE Tortoises. It might seem like I’m making fun of it, but you would be misunderstanding me. I would not change a single thing. It screams authenticity and love. It is the website of someone who spends their whole day loving tortoises. I immediately texted them, butterflies in my stomach. They were literally a farm in upstate Califnornia.
Growing up, we had a euphemism of “sending your dog upstate to live on a farm”. Obviously, there was no farm. Tortoise Acres seemed too good to be true. A farm upstate with lots of tortoises? It’s a ridiculous premise.
We could not visit the farm, but we said our tearful goodbyes to Ningami, and put him and all of his belongings in a box. My wife drove to Santa Rosa (2 hours) and tried to meet up with their tortoise wrangler. He was running late and she had to leave Ningami by the side of the road in a designated area and hope for the best.
What was Ningami thinking? Was he scared? He could not get out of the box. Where was he? I am sure he was scared. I imagine a bird came by to talk to him as he waited.
3 days passed and no word from Tortoise Acres. I was starting to get nervous. Had I made a terrible mistake? Did we just leave our pet in the middle of nowhere?
Finally, my phone buzzed and two pictures arrived.
I can not express how happy I am for him. He must be astonished. So many tortoises of all shapes and sizes. I am sure he is telling his new friends all about the family who loved him and that he will miss. Additionally, he is listening to stories of the tortoises there and their own adventures. I bet he met a country red foot girl tortoise and is doing his best to flirt with her.
“Hi…ummm…I like your shell. My name is Ningami. Do you come here often?”
What is next for him? Will there be an evil tortoise who is in charge and Ningami will lead a revolution and save the cute girl tortoise from certain death? Will he teach all of the country tortoises the ways of Silicon Valley? All I know is that this sounds like a Pixar movie to me.
Good Luck Ningami, we love you! Thank you, Tortoise Acres!
Whatya think?