This little guy has a fiber glass shell, and a good friend in Dr. Moore. Photo: Hocking Hills Animal Clinic Facebook
More than two years ago veterinarian Shannon Moore was brought a box turtle that had been run over by a car. Dr. Moore proceeded to repair the shell of the animal with fiberglass before releasing it back into the Ohio woods, good as new. Well, that turtle must have liked the doctor, because Moore stumbled upon that very same one recently on a walk through the woods. Dr. Moore said that the discovery made her feel a mixture of surprise and joy.
“It definitely made me feel good about what I had done,” she told The Inertia. “I never expected to see it again.”
The odds of this reunion must be quite long. However, box turtles are known for being very territorial. “In the wild they don’t wander too far from their home,” Moore explained. “But, of course, I released him far away from where his original home was. Certainly, I was surprised.”
Dr. Moore said she was unsure of the exact timeline, but knows that it had been at least two years since she’d seen the turtle. “Being wildlife, we don’t make medical charts,” she noted. “There’s no billing, no record, but I do know that it was a minimum of two years.” She said went back and figured it out with the help of her
“Being wildlife, we don’t make medical charts,” she noted. “There’s no billing, no record, but I do know that it was a minimum of two years.” She said went back and figured it out with the help of her
She said went back and figured it out with the help of her co-workers at the facility at which she works. Moore is a veterinarian at the Hocking Hills Animal Clinic in Logan, OH, and she posted her experience on the clinic’s Facebook page.
“Several years ago, a client brought me a box turtle that had been hit by a car,” the post reads. “I used fiberglass to repair his broken shell and then released him in my woods. Recently, while walking on my hillside, I spotted an odd pattern in the leaves. To my amazement, there was my old patient with the fiberglass still on… years later! Sometimes, being a vet is the best thing there is.”
Moore has been taken aback by the response to her story. “I’m shocked about the response to this,” she said. “It was certainly something that meant a lot to me emotionally, but I never imagined that it would [catch on] like this.”
Dr. Moore has been a veterinarian for 22 years, and it seems a perfect career for her. “I have always had a love for science,” she explained. “And quite honestly, growing up, animals were my best friends, so it was a good marriage of the two things.”
Moore’s profile on the Hocking Hills Animal Clinic website notes that when she’s not in the office she can be found hiking the Hocking Hills with her Siberian husky. Perhaps the turtle is an avid internet user and knew precisely where to wait for her so he could say thank you.
