"His Home," Daily Painting # 48

"His Home," Available (Click Here)

5" by 7"

Oils on Panel

A Galapagos Tortoise

I decided I had to catch the quiet giants (they are the oldest creatures at the zoo) before my Mom and I left the San Diego Zoo on our latest visit. It was twilight and a bit cool. It seemed all the tortoise's had just bedded down for the night, and in such an odd way. At the back of their exhibit is a cave like area with heat lamps and hay that looked perfectly cozy for tortoises to rest in, but none of them were in there despite the cooler night. They were all pulled into their shells, a few of them had wedged between a plant and the edge of their exhibit huddled together, another was just pressed against another wall, a couple were pushed up against each other, but this guy was in the middle of the exhibit just tucked in his shell all alone. He seemed the least tucked in.

We were chatting about their surprising arrangement and to our embarrassment we woke this guy up. He looked confidently at us, like he knew we were there on his time and in his space. We hushed ourselves, duly reprimanded. My camera was out to take pics of them sleeping so I snapped a couple of quick pics and we left this guy and his friends to sleep.

Next

I think I'll do a portrait of one of the apes I photographed on a recent field trip with my husband's Anthropology class. The apes were absorbing, we got lucky. :)