Baby the tortoise and Vanessa Waldahl the day Baby was brought to the Hemker Park and Zoo.
Baby the tortoise and Vanessa Waldahl the day Baby was brought to the Hemker Park and Zoo.
A new home for Waldahl’s “Baby”
by Trinity Gruenberg
trinity@inhnews.com
Doing what is best for your beloved pet is sometimes a difficult, heart wrenching decision. Such was the case for Vanessa Waldahl of Wadena and her tortoise, Baby.
Ever since she was a child she has loved turtles and tortoises of all kinds.
In 2011, she started doing research on sulcata tortoises, also known as the African thigh spurred tortoise, the third largest breed of tortoise in the world. She found a place in Arizona that bred them and she decided to purchase one.
The baby tortoise was the size of a 50 cent piece and was shipped overnight in an cream cheese container with a moist newspaper. She was supposed to arrive at 10 a.m. the following day.
“I stayed home and waited and she didn’t come. I got in my car and drove around Wadena looking for the UPS truck and I found it,” said Waldahl.
The UPS driver found the package and turned it over to her. The tiny tortoise was just fine.