SLOW AND STEADY
The pandemic saw a spike in pet adoption, and not just for furry friends. Little RES Q founder Marc Ouellette knows that for some families, turtles are just the right speed. Steph Davidson investigates these heroes in a half shell
Everybody
loves turtles. There’s one looking at me right now, basically begging for food. They can be as interactive as a cat or a dog. MARC OUELLETTE
Marc Ouellette came by his interest in turtles the way a lot of people did: through the pizza-loving foursome that crawled out of the sewers and into the hearts of children in the ’80s. While some fans’ affection for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles waned, Ouellette’s stayed with him into adulthood.
He started Little RES Q in 2008 to shelter many different kinds of reptiles, with a focus on caring, and finding homes for, redeared sliders like Apollo, Ouellette’s own 32-year-old turtle.
One of the rescue’s most memorable residents was a slider named Audrey, who came to the shelter in 2011 when she was 20. “Audrey was a special case,” Ouellette remembers. Toronto Animal Services often sent referrals, but Audrey stood out with her misshapen shell caused by years of neglect. “When they sent me pictures of her, I knew she was something different. And then I heard her story.”
Audrey had spent 20 years in a bucket and was fed not much more than egg whites. Ouellette says the owner didn’t know any better; Audrey was surrendered to TAS when her owner died.
It took time, but Ouellette rehabilitated Audrey to a place where she was strong enough to swim. “She put us on the map,” he says. “She was our star.” Audrey died four years later, and Ouellette is building a turtle sanctuary in northern Kawartha Lakes in her honour.
After enduring pandemic-related delays, Ouellette hopes to open the location next year. Because sliders are an invasive species, the sanctuary requires extra precautions, such as fencing, “to keep everybody where they need to be.” Ouellette plans to house the larger female turtles (which can grow up to a foot long) in the sanctuary while still adopting out smaller male sliders (more suited for indoor city living) through the shelter.
Because demand is so high, the shelter has been running over capacity for almost as long as it has been open. Its two-year waiting list for folks looking to surrender makes the sanctuary a much-needed solution.
One of Little RES Q’s recent success stories is red-eared slider Donatello (named for the Ninja Turtle). “He came into the shelter in September 2018. So, he spent 1,058 days here,” says Ouellette. “Sometimes the adoptions take a while, but we find them homes.”
For people considering adopting a new family member, Ouellette has some convincing arguments for team turtle. “Everybody loves turtles,” he says. “There’s one looking at me right now, basically begging for food,” he says with a laugh, calling turtles Olympic medal-winning beggars. “They can be as interactive as a cat or a dog.
“I’ve had people walk around their house, put their turtle out, and the turtle will follow them,” he adds. “They do tend to be a more interactive reptile. They’re actually pretty fun to watch.”
And don’t write turtles off just because cuddly critters may be more your speed. “They’ll crawl up on your leg,” Ouellette says. “I’ve had Apollo fall asleep on my chest.”
Turtles are truly a family affair for Ouellette; his two-and-a-half-year-old son gets hands-on with the rescue’s inhabitants. “He’s going to be like the son of Steve Irwin when it’s time for him to take over,” Ouellette says, referring to TV’s late “Crocodile Hunter.” “We’ve got cats and dogs and turtles and snakes in the house. To him, these are just family members.”