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| Bulldog Meander & Tortoise Rescue, AZ | |
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| | Bulldog Meander & Tortoise Rescue, AZ | | | |
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Bulldog Meander & Tortoise Rescue, AZ
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| Hiking | 5.30 Miles |
933 AEG |
| | Hiking | 5.30 Miles | 3 Hrs 4 Mns | | 1.73 mph |
| 933 ft AEG | | 15 LBS Pack | | |
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| no linked trail guides |
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| no partners | | Planned another quick out-and-back before other people started parking near me along Bush Highway. Luckily I was off and hiking on the east side of Bush before anyone else arrived and I as alone for the whole hike. Alone that is, except for a too-fast-for-the-camera deer encounter and a too-slow-to-miss encounter with an upside-down desert tortoise.
The deer encounter was the impetus to make it a not-so-quick hike... of course I had to try my best to circle around it in hopes of a photo-op.
And while I was on that circle I happened across the tortoise, which appeared to have tipped off an 8" 'ridge' along the edge of a wash. ](https://hikearizona.com/dex2/images/smilies/eusa_wall.gif "Brick wall")
I had no idea how long it had been there and at first I thought the tortoise was dead because I couldn't see its head, but it turned out the head was stuck deep into the sand. After-the-fact, I noticed moisture in the sand where it had stuck its head so I figured it may have had hopes of trying to stay hydrated. I guessed its legs couldn't get enough purchase in the sand to tip it back over so of course I gave it a hand and righted it.
Once on its feet again while its mouth was agape the tortoise was still not moving. When I saw its mouth chock-full of sand I dribbled some water off its snout and watched to see what happened. It slowly started pushing wet sand out of its mouth but there was more to come. As long as it kept pushing the sand out, whenever it stopped and stuck its tongue farther out I continued to dribbling water onto its tongue. Having only planned a very short hike I only had 17 ounces of water but I eventually gave it all I had.
At that point I wondered what more I could/should do for it. Although it wasn't that hot out yet, in the wash in the direct sun it was pretty warm, so I carefully moved it into a shaded area with some green vegetation... and that's about all I could think of to do.
Ok, now warming up and out of water I made a beeline back to the car.
FYI, for those interested to know how the tortoise fared, I returned three days later... what was its fate? 
Sorry, you'll just have to wait until I get that trip posted... soon.
Stats for the day...
Number of deer encountered = One
Number of skunks smelled = One (this happens a lot around here)
Number of upturned tortoises = One (thankfully ONLY one!)
Number of Homo-sapiens encountered today = ZERO |
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