My Arrival  August 2000 Update   May 2001 Update   July, 2004 Update

Hello, My name is Dignity and I am a California Desert Tortoise.
I am here to tell you a story about what can happen to a guy like me
when a thoughtless, cruel human does terrible things.

I'm  sorry that  I don't look very handsome, but I have been through a lot.

I was found by a woman when I was trying to get into her Grandfather's garage to
escape the desert heat.  She brought me to TorotiseAid.  I was very frightened and very sick.

I didn't want humans anywhere near me, I had just escaped an
unspeakably cruel, painful existence.

I was kept in some sort of a building for years without access to sun, or proper food.

The person who held me captive skinned me.   By skinned, I mean they
took my skin with the scales off of both of my front legs!
I don't know what they are going to make with it.  It won't ever grow back.

While I recover, Annie will have to make me a special home,
because I cannot ever again dig into a burrow.

My once heavily armored legs no longer have any protection from the hot sand,
sun, dirt,  rocks, insects, etc. and many of my front claws were pulled out while
they tried to hold my legs out to skin them.

My rear claws were so long I would not walk on my rear  feet.  They have been trimmed
and now my feet touch the floor, but it takes me a long time to get anywhere.  The muscles
in my feet haven't been able to move properly in years, so between that and my skinned
front legs, it's going to be awhile before I win any races.

My gular scute was used to hold me while they pulled my legs out to skin me,
and it also has a lot of damage. They tried to saw it off, but for some reason they stopped.

Whoever skinned me used a scalpel and knew exactly what they were doing.

If you see someone like me getting hurt, taken out of the wild, dumped or neglected,
please do something about it!  We need humans who care!

In California, call CAL-TIP if you see anyone hurting one of my cousins, any other wildlife,
or if you see someone hurting our environment at 1-888-DFG-CALTIP
You will remain anonymous and could even get paid for helping!

My case is still under investigation.

I've been here for a couple of months now.  I am not quite as shy, I let Annie
rub the top of my head without fear, but if anything seems out of the ordinary I hide for days.

Annie has been wrapping my legs and has had me on lots of medicine, I hate it but I
put up with it, it doesn't hurt as bad as getting skinned, and now my legs are starting to heal.
You can see that the remaining damaged skin that was left over when I was harmed is sloughing off,
at first when the cracking and separation started I did not want to move, it hurt a lot!!!

This is what my legs will look like from now on.

Annie is going ahead with plans to build me a special home so I don't get hurt outside.
If  you know someone with a backhoe who would like to volunteer some time,
please call her for me, OK?

Right now, I like to use Annie's bedroom closet as my burrow, it's nice and dark in there
and I feel safe.  I can use my back legs a little bit better than at first, but I am still very slow, and
Annie takes me for little walks outside on warm desert evenings,  and I love to sit under a sprinkler
once in awhile, I think it's raining when she puts me there and sometimes I take a big drink!

I also LOVE  sniffing the ground, I love getting to go outside because I did not get to for many years.
Last night I made it all the way across the driveway ( width enough to park 2 cars side by side)
in a little more than an hour!  The muscles in my back feet are still tight, but I can put my feet flat on
the ground now AND use my toes, but I still walk like I'm  bowlegged.

I like to eat cactus pads, pasture mix grasses, and wild desert plants.
My favorite is white prickly pear fruit, but I only get that once in awhile.

In another couple of months, I will tell Annie to give you another update on my progress.

Hi Everyone!

I have been really groggy this winter, Annie kept bothering me to make me stay awake.
Now that the weather is warming up, I am ready for action!
My legs are still healing, but they don't seem to hurt too much, only when I bump into something.
Digging is out of the question, so I stopped trying.

I have been getting to eat some REALLY cool stuff that I haven't seen in years, Annie goes
into the desert and picks me all sorts of yummy flowers.  They taste GREAT, and I have gained nearly two pounds! 

 I remember getting to eat these same flowers from when I was still a wild tortoise. 

 My most favorite food in the whole word is Desert Globemallow.   That stuff tastes AWESOME!

I still walk slowly, but I am getting a lot better at it.  :-)

I like to bask in the sunshine, but not for very long, I've become more of an "in the shade" sorta guy.
After living in the dark for so many years, it's hard on my eyes but I am getting to where I
can stay out a little longer every week.  I do have to be careful because my legs will sunburn,
and that is the last thing I want to happen.

Here is a picture of me having a wonderful day outside getting to eat all of the weeds
and wildflowers a guy could ever want!  (That "bump" next to my head is my front left leg,
it looks strange in the photo because the weeds are hiding my foot.)

I will continue to remind Annie to tell you about my progress.
Thank you so much for the letters you have sent me asking about how I am doing.

July 2004-Update

~Dignity~

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