The Defenseless Turtle

A while ago I was going on my morning run - I was still on my street when I noticed a turtle walking along close to the curb. Those of you who aren't all that familiar with Houston might not know that we have lots of turtles around these parts. Our subdivision backs up to a gully, so we see them often around our neighborhood. I always hate it when I see one dead in the road - so I wanted to get this one into safe territory before I went any further with my run. This one was kinda big - somewhere between a dessert plate and a dinner plate. I very gently picked it up. I was a little nervous cause I know they must hate it when some human goes and picks them up not knowing what our intentions might be. So I was kinda talking to it, letting it know I was of the nice variety of human and that I just needed to get it off the road for it's own sake. Luckily, I was holding it as far away from me as I could safely do - because it shot a bunch of what I guess was pee out the end of it! I didn't get anything on me - but it got me thinking. A turtle has a shell which is a protection from lots of things - but still it is very vulnerable if someone happens to tip it over onto it's back. And then apparently they have this pee thing that they do as a defense mechanism. Cats have claws, dogs have teeth, snakes have poison and spiders have bites but the poor turtle has PEE! What is up with that! Where is the fairness in the animal world? So the turtle's options are very limited - pull your head in or pee! I feel even more protective of these turtles now!