On February 19th, I got a call from Sea World saying that "Buddha" was going to be released the next day and they wanted me and the other officers who help save him there for the event!
We drove out to Sea World and found out we were going to be filmed for the TV show "Sea Rescue" that is on ABC on Saturday mornings!!! Uh, no thanks! I let my fellow officers do all the talking and I just hung out with the turtle, who was renamed "Lazarus" by Sea World staff, because he almost died so many times.
Here are the Sea World crew doing a final weigh in and measure....then into the truck and off to the beach we went! Doesn't he look like he is smiling!!!
We arrived at the beach and carried him down and he took the long way but ended up in the ocean, where he belongs!! Here is a Video....I do not know when the episode of Sea Rescue will be aired, but I will let you all know. Here is the crew, the officers involved (I look very short in this picture!) and a lady from The Sea Turtle Preservation Society!
Yesterday started out just like every other day of work.... Shift meeting, a stop for my bagel and coffee, off to the park to watch the sunrise. (The Pagan in me loves that I get to greet the sun every morning!)
I was talking to another Officer about the arrest we had made the day before when we hear radio traffic from the Sheriff's Office helicopter, that it appears a swimmer is struggling in the river. Assistance is needed.
Our department has a police boat and we have an officer that is the marine unit, so he gets on the radio and says he is on his way to get the boat in the water and he needs help. I jump at the chance! The boat operator is my friend and dive buddy.
I get to the marina and we hear the helicopter on the radio saying it is not a person, it's a turtle!! We drop the boat, jump on and head out.
As we get closer, we hear the copter and can see the turtle.
He is struggling. We see he can't dive, but he is not caught up in anything. We back the boat off a bit, because if we stress him out and he can't dive, he could drown. I shot this video while we waited for another officer to arrive.
We called the great people at Sea Turtle Preservation Society and they told us if we could get it to land they would meet us. They explained it must have a crack in it's shell and air is trapped inside. This causes a bubble, that prevents them from diving.
A Sgt. from the Sheriff's Office arrives and we attempt to get this poor turtle in the boat! We take turns driving the boat closer and two of us try and grab him. He is super slimey! LOL. He has algae and barnacles growing on his shell. We get soaked! On the 4th try we get him on the boat.
It is only then do I realize how big he is!We estimate him to be about 250 lbs.
We get him to land and we try to carry him in a tarp to the truck, but that was not working. The STPS people say he is a deep sea turtle and for him to be in the river is unusual. The Indian River is a mix of salt and fresh water that runs into the Atlantic Ocean.
So the three of us just all grabbed a spot of the shell and put him in the back of the truck for his ride to Orlando. Where Sea World said they would take him in and fix his shell.
Here is his ride! LOL, If you are local, check them out, they have lots of volunteer opportunities! The lady from The STPS says that since I caught him, I get to name him...so I decided since he was big, round and calm, I would name him Buddha.
I peek in on Buddha one more time before he leaves so I can put a wet towel on him for the ride. I tell him it was awesome to meet him and to get better soon, The STPS takes my phone number so they can call me when he is ready to be released back into the ocean and they said I can come along!
Last Friday at work, I was sitting in the park, typing a report, when I
see a tortoise walking at full speed straight toward my patrol car. He
went under my car and was hanging out.....
I got out, took some pictures, thanked him for posing (LOL) and waited for him to go on his way......
Well, yesterday, I was in the same park, doing a patrol of the area, due to some small brush fires. I see a tortoise on the path that I am driving on, so I slow down, pull over and grab my camera for some pictures.
I follow him a bit, taking more pictures and the Torty stops....I wait, and wait, and wait! Finally, I go in front of him to see if he is caught on anything and I see this.
You can't tell by my picture but this is a small feather. Most Blue Jay feathers are large, at least around here. I thank the Torty and take the feather.
Later tonight, I am looking at all my pictures I have taken of tortoises in the last few weeks. I look at last Friday's and today's....I think it was the same Torty, who hung out under my car and then showed me the feather! Here are side by side pictures, what do you think?
The other morning on my way to work (ridiculously early, I might add!), I stopped at my
usual drive-thru for a coffee and bagel. In front of me, was a car with a few bumper stickers that left me in doubt that a kindred spirit and fellow Pagan, was inside!
I love to see other Pagans "out in the wild" but I hate that while in uniform, I can't approach them. Mostly because, I know some pagans have a dis-like of the police or any government type body. Some for good reason. Some do because they think, it's a requirement. :-) Also, while at work, my time is not mine and I feel like I should not be discussing religion, on the city's dime.
I order my breakfast and pull up to pay. I am here, every work day so I have a friendly relationship with the wonderful Theresa, the lady who gives me, my much needed coffee! We always have a quick chat about whatever and she always tells me to be-careful and that she prays for my safety.
As I pull up to pay, Theresa smiles and says the person ahead of me bought my breakfast! I love being wrong... sometimes! The person ahead of me looked at me as a person not just a police officer! Lesson learned, Universe!
So, I paid for the person behind me and I went on my way with a smile.
The next day, same routine, ordered my stuff, pulled up to say hi to Theresa and she told me, it went on for 7 more cars!!!! The car I paid for, paid for the next car and so on and so on....7 times!
I know it's a small thing, but it made me so happy and I would like to think it made everyone involved happy too! So, to the Pagan driving the red Honda four door with the awesome bumper stickers, Thank you for breakfast and double Thank You for the smile!
I was sitting in my favorite place to run radar this afternoon when I saw a strange thing whiz by me!
I called out over the radio, "Dispatch, I will be out with a hot dog on a motorized scooter with no helmet".
Dead silence.... after a few seconds the dispatcher stutters out "Ten-Four, location?" I give the location and I know every officer in the general area is headed my way to see what I am doing.
This young man was kind enough to give me permission to take his photo for the blog. He works down the street at the local hot dog stand and he dresses up once in a while for Kid's Night.
Today is "Black Friday, that crazy, turkey fueled, shopping extravaganza! I live across the street from a mall and several big box stores. We saw people lining up for a few days before the holiday, for the good deals.
I went in service, this morning, at around 5:45 A.M. As soon as I turn on my radio, I heard a call come out at the mall, involving two males running through the line, hitting the waiting shoppers.
I was on scene in seconds, and I saw people pointing to a large white truck pulling away. I did a traffic stop on the truck and this is what I saw after the driver and passenger exited the truck.
I call this photo "Blue Moon, Black Friday".
Two young guys thought it would be funny to wear only thong underwear and run through the crowd. The joke was on them though, this morning was very cold for Florida. It was 39 degrees, which when you are used to temps of 95+, IT IS COLD! They had to wait while we spoke to everyone who got hit, if the wanted to press charges for unwanted touching (battery). No one did but we still had to ask. They were freezing.
How can you tell if some one lives in Florida or is just a tourist? A tourist will call the police about a massive gator in the ditch by their vacation rental.
I go out and see this little guy. He is maybe 3 feet long. I wish I had a picture of the guy from New York's face when I told him, we won't call a trapper or move a gator this small. Priceless!
The gator is where he is supposed to be, he is not in a yard or shopping center so he gets to stay! I think he is super cute!
I get to see and do, all sorts of strange and interesting things while at work. So, I thought I would do a re-occurring post about some of those things.
Today at work was like every other day, it's all the same, until it's not the same. I work for a city of about 100,000 people, we have urban areas but we also have a lot of undeveloped land. This can cause some fun moments for us at work, because of animals.
We received a call that a feral hog was loose in a backyard. This is disturbing. We have a pig problem! There are an estimated 500,000 wild pigs loose in the Florida woods, they can grow up to 200 lbs, they eat anything and everything and the males can become very aggressive.
Several officers and myself went to the residence, quietly approached the
backyard and spend an hour trying to wrangle this fearsome beast!
I don't know if this little piggy was super fast or we were laughing to hard to catch him but we finally did. Several people in the neighborhood came out to watch us look very silly. I saw lots of phones so I am sure there is a Youtube video somewhere! :-)
I put Mr. Piggy in my patrol car and brought him deeper into the woods away from the houses. I thanked him for the fun and that I was happy to have met him. Hope he stays safe and away from people.
