The story of Rockalina the turtle — who was rescued after nearly a half-century of neglect — now has a new character.
Enter an Oreo-sized baby turtle, who will be Rockalina's new friend and who represents a turning point in her recovery.
"That was the very first time she came nose-to-nose, like right in the face of her own kind," said Chris Leone, who runs Garden State Tortoise, a turtle sanctuary based in New Jersey.
For nearly 50 years, Rockalina, an eastern box turtle, survived on a linoleum kitchen floor, her legs entangled in cat hair, her claws unnaturally bent upward while she subsisted on mostly cat food. She had been taken from the wild in the 1970s by a New York boy, and from that time, lived in that unnatural environment.
Eastern box turtles are usually found by ponds, in meadows and woodlands in the eastern half of the U.S., according to the National Wildlife Federation. They got their name because they're able to clamp themselves entirely inside their shells to thwart predators. They were once a plentiful species, but their numbers have declined because of habitat loss, traffic collisions and people collecting them as pets — like what happened to Rockalina.
When Leone picked up her back in February she was wan, looked near death and her eyes were covered in dead skin.
Leone said she has since spent the last 10 months "getting to be a turtle because she was treated like anything but that for almost 50 years."
The bocce ball-sized reptile has shown remarkable resilience, spending time outside digging, chasing worms and chomping on strawberries — a favorite treat. Her once white, rubbery skin is returning to its natural shades of brown with rough scales. Her eyes are clearer and a deep shade of mahogany.
"It's still so moving … there's something about Rockalina, where it was like, 'How on earth did she pull through this?' " Leone told NPR. "You know, she was mummified when we got her."
"A beautiful moment"
And just this past week, she entered a new phase of her recovery. Spending time with her own kind.
"A lot of people think that turtles and tortoises are solitary by nature when they're not necessarily in love with each other. … But they absolutely occur in colonies and groups in nature," Leone said.
He introduced a hatchling born at his center to Rockalina, so they could socialize.
"I had a feeling it was going to go well, and it did. And she instantly was curious," Leone said. "She walked with it. She almost seemed to stop and let it get a little bit ahead of her. And they just sniffed each other. They shared a strawberry. It was a beautiful moment."
Leone posted a video of the meeting, in which he excitedly hovers over the two turtles, monitoring their interaction.
"She's like, sniffing its little butt," he says in the video.
This first meeting is just the start for Rockalina. Leone has more of the same planned for her, and hopes to eventually build a little box turtle colony for Rockalina.
"No pun intended, but I think slow and steady wins the race here with her," he said. "We just keep taking baby steps with her and eventually get to that end goal where she can just be as wild of a box turtle as she can be in a captive management situation."
Leone has shared Rockalina's journey to his followers, which now top 1 million on Facebook. They'll even have a chance to write a bit of her story: The baby turtle's name will be based on viewer suggestions.
Leone said the online response to Rockalina's journey has been a huge help in his mission to educate the public about critters like her.
"It's been unbelievable for us and a real blessing. But, more so for her species, for turtles," he said. He added, "If we can get people to learn to appreciate them, leave wild turtles wild and just enjoy them and for all their beauty and charisma, then it's a win. And Rockalina has really been such a massive stepping stone for that."
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