Dear Friend,
How cool to have a turtle as today's pet! Your buddy Schmertt is quite the turtle with all his neat turtle ways. He's certainly not the common red-eared turtle folks usually see as pets, or I don't think he is. I have a book on all kinds of wildlife which I've had since I was about eight years old (I'm 59 now) and I couldn't find a turtle which looks exactly like Schmertt but some of the pictures are only drawings. I went online and searched for Florida turtles and his little turtle face strongly resembles a striped mud turtle. The name isn't quite glamorous but he's still a lot more handsome than a snapping turtle or something like that. I just have this curiosity about things and I wanted to see what kind of turtle Schmerrt might be, emphasis on "might".
I had a couple of turtles when I was little. I cried when the first one died. Later in my life, I was doing some sales calls in Hazard, Kentucky and saw a small box turtle in the road (so many get hit by cars but if I can safely stop, I always do and get them off into the brush. I even got a snapping turtle off the road; he repaid me by attempting to take the toe of my shoe off, lol). I put the turtle in a box I had in the car and took him to my home in Lexington. My back yard had a lot of day lilies and bushes, along with a fish pond, and I turned "Murphy" loose back there to eat slugs, which they adore. I didn't see him for two years after that, although I searched for him more than once. The next time I saw him, he was out in the street (I really should have left him in Hazard, safely off the road) and after rescuing him, I put him in my back yard again. That was the last time I saw Murphy. I've always had a heart for the box turtles, and most other turtles, too.
Well, I've carried on enough. I hope Schmertt continues to live his lazy, lovely turtle life with you for a long, long time, my friend. He obviously has a good home. May the Lord bless you for taking care of him all these years. That's so neat.
May the Lord bless you and your loved ones.
My love to all,
Jim Grayson
Lexington, Kentucky
U.S.A.