Turkey is an odd turtle. She is curious, adventurous, loves attention, and adores meeting new people.
I cannot emphasize just how unusual this is for a red eared slider turtle.
They’re literally called sliders because they slide into the water when they get spooked or even an errant cloud interrupts their basking.
Turkey’s wonderful personality makes her a fantastic ambassador for Little RESQ. We have done smaller group meet-ups and other visits at expos and events, but this would be the very first time in a formal classroom setting.
With help from turtle-bestie Regan Macaulay, we were able to experience our first ever in-class visit with grade three classes (that’s sixty kids!).
Regan Macaulay has written Tamara Turtle’s Life So Far and donates 50% of all profits from the sale of this book to Little RES Q (https://www.reganwhmacaulay.com/).
To start our classroom visit, we had to get to the school. It was over an hour on local transit and traveling with a turtle isn’t the easiest thing in the world.
You can check out our ‘How to travel with a turtle‘ post here to see how we managed on this fateful day.
Needless to say, Turkey made a lot of friends on Toronto transit that day.
After we arrived, we waited patiently for Regan’s presentation of ‘Tamara Turtle’s Life So Far‘ to finish. The students were engaged and enjoyed the presentation. They had no idea that they were about to meet a real life turtle!
Once Turkey made her debut, the feeling of excitement was palpable. Despite everyone wanting to pet the turtle at the same time, the students held back. Turkey was given time to adjust to the many smiling faces waiting to catch her eye.
We had a Q&A period where the kids asked questions like, “Can turtles eat hamburgers?” and “Do they have any natural predators?”
After we explored everything possible about turtles, the children formed a line (two by two) to meet Turkey the turtle.
This was the first time that Turkey has ever met this many people at one time.
I watched her closely for signs of stress but there were none – this turtle was in her element.
Turkey had an adoring crowd ready to give her pets, hold her hand, and say her name. She LOVED it!
At the end of the visit, Turkey explored the room while the kids shuffled out back to their respective classrooms.
Turkey and I made our way home where she was certainly not done meeting with people. We made more new friends on the TTC as we headed back home. Wherever we go, there is always a chorus of “Is that a TURTLE?!”
We can’t wait to do this again.
If you would like us to visit your classroom in the GTA, please contact me and we will set something up!
We can do any age-group including high school students. We do represent Little RESQ when we visit, so there is usually a small donation made to the charity to book an info session and a visit with Turkey the Turtle.
The Turtle Lady 
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