Lately there has been a new tenant in the pond. It had introduced itself to Grass that it is a Red Ear Slider.
Red Ear Slider was a turtle pet for a young girl for the last 5 years. As the girl got older, her study load and other commitments increased. Slowly the girl found it increasingly harder to take care of Red Ear Slider (which in the first place has been a tedious husbandry task). After serious considerations, she decided to release the Red Ear Slider at the pond in her nearby park.
The first day Red Ear Slider joined the pond, it frantically slided off the rocks and went into hiding. Everything seemed foreign to it. And its master will not be around anymore to protect it from dangers. While hiding in its shell, Red Ear Slider suppressed the strong urge of crying and indulging in self-pity.
After a few days, Red Ear Slider acclimatise to the environment easily due to its innate ability. In fact due to its strong instincts of survival, Red Ear Slider came across as an aggressive tenant. Its arrival disrupted the natural food chain in the pond as it preyed on the local species. Afterall, it was never meant to belong in the pond.
In the end, Red Ear Slider was given a nickname, "Alien Invader" and was shunned off by the remaining local species. It had no choice but to lead a solitary life for its remaining days (which is long given the average lifespan is about 20 to 25 years).
Grass later shared with me that if one were to put the blame for Red Ear Slider's fate, it would be the girl's fault. First for not being able to commit for the pet's lifetime. And second, for carelessly disposing it to a nearby pond instead of contacting the relevant authorities to learn the best way to set the turtle free without harming other species.
That day, I learnt how serious the consequences could be when you set your pets free into the wild carelessly.
Author's comment:
It's been a long time since I wrote my first short story about plastic bag. After that I did not have much creative juice in me. Until my docent mate shared with me the tale of the red ear slider. If not for her, I probably will not pay so much attention when RMBR guide was explaining why there is an Alien Invader section.
While writing this story, I did a little research and found out that Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon was also sending a message to the public to tell them please do not throw your pet turtles in the sewage carelessly else they might mutate. I wonder how many knew the hidden meaning?
It is sad that because of man's fault, these pet turtles suffered such misunderstanding of being aggressive and invasive. Thus I wanted to write a story to show the other side of the sad tale. And I named it Alien Invader, giving due credits to my friend, RMBR and the rest of the society who had been involved in the research.
And I want to reiterate that if you want to owe a pet, remember to take care of it for its lifetime. And should you really become unable to do so, remember to contact the relevant authorities and not set it free carelessly into the wild.
1 comment:
ya...it is very sad to see these beautiful animals being branded as alien species and held responsible for the decline of local species when the real culprits are human ourselves. With no demand for them as pets, they would not have been introduced to this part of the world (that is not their natural habitat) in the first place. :( There is actually no best way of freeing these pets except perhaps to find them another responsible care taker who is willing to adopt them. Unfortunately, many chose to take the easy way out and abandon their pets which they have lost interests in, and at the same time, declared themselves doing the animals a favor by releasing them back to nature, giving them a 'new lease' of life, when in actual fact, most of them have already lost the natural ability to find food or fend for themselves.
In short, we should really think twice about getting a pet. They are not a toy that we can just shelf it away or throw away when we grow tire of them. :(
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