Some of you may know that Jena has a turtle. More appropriately, Jena's mom now has a turtle and he's actually a Sulcata Tortoise. Jena saw him in a pet store in Lawrence, KS just over 10 years ago and thought she needed the cute little thing. In true Younger fashion, she negotiated a better price and took him home. At the time, she did not realize that this little "turtle" could live up to 80 years and would get big enough to ride some day. Since we never really knew when he was born, Jena decided that Columbus Day would be his birthday each year. As you can imagine, he's seen some interesting times in his 10 years on earth. Here are a few highlights from Larry's life:- Was small enough to ride in the cupholder of Jena's car when he came home.
- Has lived in Tribune, Garden City, and Goodland...but mostly in Tribune.
- Once walked away from Brett and Jill's house in Goodland and was lost for 2 weeks. He was found about 6 miles north of town and made the front page of the newspaper on return.
- Can destroy any flower bed or garden in no time at all.
- Can eat you out of house and home now and enjoys all the veggies he can get.
- Was almost adopted by the Garden City zoo until another turtle in the exhibit was stolen. Jena quickly decided against leaving him there.
- Likes to give the grandkids rides...yep, you can ride him!
- Has lived about 8 years longer than any vet or tortise expert expected him to live.
- Is the main attraction at the turtle race at the Tribune fair.
- Weighed less than a pound when Jena got him and weighs close to 80 pounds today.
We hope you enjoy the pictures. I had to include the first one above as a nod to Max and the great Polaroid. I'm not sure anyone other than Max still has and uses one of those! Can you even see Larry in the picture? He's pretty small in Jill's hand.
A huge thanks goes to Wayne and Kathy for adopting Larry and giving him a great home. He probably would not have lived nearly this long if it hadn't been for the care he gets in Tribune.
