In the meantime
I'm working on something kind of serious. Introspective. DEEP, even. Well, maybe. I'm like, two paragraphs in and who knows where it will all end up. But as always, I'll want your input and your thoughtful opinions and maybe we'll all learn something together!
IN THE MEANTIME, enjoy some mating tortoises. We saw them at the local zoo the other day, and I originally thought the one was having some kind of seizure. And then I turned around and looked at him from another angle and WHOOPS! He was having relations, not a seizure. MY BAD. (It sure looked and sounded like a seizure though. Can't imagine how utterly delightful that was for the other party.)
P.S. Don't you love how he couldn't bother to finish whatever was in his mouth before he decided he needed to copulate? HOW CLASSY.
LOL - typical MAN!
Posted by: SherE1 | Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 01:02 PM
It looks like he's smoking a little tortoise cigarette.
Posted by: Lar | Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 01:07 PM
I once had this experience at a zoo. Only with elephants. Years later, I'm still speechless.
Posted by: Moose | Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 01:16 PM
Your such a tease. Was this a picture of two willing parties or was a rape like the ducks at The Brooks?
Posted by: Stacie | Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 01:19 PM
Awesome. I had a similar experience at the zoo, only with anteaters.
Posted by: nonsoccermom | Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 01:50 PM
Hilarious! I'm glad you had the camera.
Posted by: Lissa | Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 01:56 PM
I had the same experience twice...once in my backyard with turtles & the other day at the beach with 2 seagulls. Seagulls are VERY noisy while copulating!!!
Posted by: Lacey | Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 02:04 PM
That gives new meaning to shells clinking together....and I wish the angle was from below....wondering how?
Posted by: Val | Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 02:24 PM
Ah, yes, I was witness to a similar scene at a zoo once too--who knew turtles were so frisky? And because these particular turtles were, uh, quite vocal, the little boy in front of us was horrified and asked, "Mommy, why are they making those loud noises?"
Posted by: Jennie | Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 02:28 PM
My copulating zoo experience was with rhinos, and I've never been able to look at one the same way.
Posted by: She Likes Purple | Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 02:49 PM
That doesn't even look real, it's like a...um....very 'graphic' tortoise sculpture. But then you have to wonder who would sculpt that...so I guess it is less weird that it's real. My brain isn't working today. Anyway, I've had a similar situation repeatedly acted out in my backyard by squirrels - complete with aloofness and begging afterward.
Posted by: Karyn | Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 02:50 PM
I'm impressed by how nonchalant they look about the whole thing. I'm with Val - I'd love to know the logistics of "how"
Posted by: Jennifer | Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 03:02 PM
No one could ever begrudge an offer of mating tortoises "in the meantime." It HAS to be a great day after this. ;)
Posted by: Melissa | Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 04:08 PM
We took Christopher to the SF zoo recently and got to witness a similar spectacle at the penguin exhibit. Really, there are no words.
Reminds me, also, of the time I got to school in the morning all ready to spend my day educating hearts and minds....when I came around the corner to my classroom I encountered about 50 students gathered, staring up at the roof. Upon closer inspection, I discovered two raccoons on a date (well, what some people would consider a date) right on the very edge of the roof. We were all waiting for them both to fall off. Apparently, raccoons have REALLY good balance.
Posted by: annie | Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 04:45 PM
My experience was with Giraffes...two males and one female...WEIRD is all I have to say!
Posted by: Aimee | Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 05:37 PM
Food and sex. Bringing together his two biggest joys as a man. Afterwards, he probably rolled off and took a snooze, while she tidied up the place.
(That shot reminds me of the Seinfeld episode where George is eating a sandwich while having relations. "Spicy!!")
Posted by: Kritter Krit | Thursday, May 08, 2008 at 08:06 PM
Ahh! I was at that SAME zoo just last week, and I experienced nothing so exciting.
Posted by: Mandi | Friday, May 09, 2008 at 07:18 AM
You know, every time I go to that particular zoo, I see the turtles doing it. Frisky little buggers.
And yeah, it's troubling to witness.
Posted by: amanda | Friday, May 09, 2008 at 11:03 AM
HAHA! I unfortunately bore witness to the same thing recently: http://www.flickr.com/photos/59139543@N00/980324472/
Posted by: metalia | Friday, May 09, 2008 at 12:26 PM
I was also wondering how that would work. Am I really stupid for thinking they had some other way of procreating? Maybe like birds or something. I just didn't think it was possible.
I can't believe someone witnessed THREE giraffes. I really think that one would scar me for life!
Posted by: my life is brilliant | Friday, May 09, 2008 at 05:15 PM
That is HILARIOUS!! I'm sure that'll take some explaining...
Posted by: Lindsay | Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 09:14 PM
The tortoises at the Phoenix zoo "do it" so much that they actually made a hole in the females shell - if you look closely you can see where she had to get patches for her shell.
Posted by: Heidi | Wednesday, May 14, 2008 at 12:11 PM