Hate to tell you this...
but tortoises can't swim.
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Digeridude Lord Wellington's Beef Trapeze, Sun 31 May 2009, 6:38,
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Are you sure...
... The Galapagos Tortoises got there (600 miles from land) somehow.
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lion-cake Bad lion-cake, bad., Sun 31 May 2009, 10:31,
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Okey dokey
This bit of Thailand I was in, there were many of this type of tortoise. The locals actually sort of farm these ones for a strange little ritual. What they do is allow them to grow up in rice paddies and lakes, and once they reach maturity, the locals go wading through these lakes to fish them out so they can sell them on the market. The point of them being sold on market is so that whoever buys one, they can then take it to a designated lake and give them their "freedom". Thing is, the lake is a place where the stall holder then later goes back to recapture it, so somebody else can pay for its "freedom".
Point is, this little bugger was from the same family as the ones being dragged up from the paddies, ponds and lakes. They all lived in and out of the watery fields and such.
The only difference with Cuddles is, we didn't put him in a lake where he could be recaptured. We put him in a lovely little lotus flower water field, which is apparently a stretch of water where you are forbidden from entering, and was one of only a few in the area.
Swim or not, these breed of tortoise (or turtle, I don't know) live in and out of water. So Cuddles, he is safe and I'm quite sure that right now he's having a lovely time.
(, Sun 31 May 2009, 11:54, Share, Reply)
The high nostrils give it away
it's evolved to live both in water and on land...
Whereabouts in Thailand? I lived in the North East for a while...
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TheAlmightyBeev, Sun 31 May 2009, 13:02,
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Ooh good man
I just spent a month out there. Greatest time of my life. Totally depressed to be back home, so now I need to start thinking about doing something with my life so I can move over there.
Cuddles was found in a little town called Bua Yai, which is a few miles outside of Nakhon Ratchasima. So kind of heading towards the North East, but still quite central. Tippity top area it was.
(, Sun 31 May 2009, 13:15, Share, Reply)