You may have heard of Griselle.

You may also have heard of the Turtleman.

Hold onto your dungarees, because today you’re going to hear about both.

Threeish years ago, Tabby’s Place adopted out one of the most prim and proper princesses ever to strut her stuff through our sanctuary. Griselle was every inch a lady, from her endless eyelashes to that down-to-there hair. Due to an accident, Griselle was also incontinent. Somehow, Grissy’s elegance meant that dropping doody hither and yon didn’t make her any less charming or ready for tea with the Queen. (No, not that Queen.)

So it was exciting, but not colossally shocking, when our ultra-lady was adopted by a smitten admirer from afar. Sunshine State-afar, in fact. MamaG mooned for Griselle online and dreamed of meeting her. In a matter of months, it was up the coast and into Tabby’s Place for a week of full-time-fabulous volunteering, followed by a tearful, terrific adoption day. Three years later, Grissy and MamaG are living it up in southern FL.

But somewhere along the way, our prim Griselle has discovered another side of herself. Maybe it’s all those Waffle Houses down there, or the distant sounds of Jimmy Buffet, but Griselle is heeding the call of the wild. Personally, I think she’s been watching Call of the Wildman. If you haven’t yet seen this highly enlightening program, let me edify you. In each episode, a gentleman named Turtleman is called into perilous situations throughout the hollers of Kentucky.

Example: farmer discovers that something is biting off the udders of his cows in their cow pond. Turtleman arrives, plunges beneath the algae-covered water, scrambles out with one, two, then three snapping turtles, squealing “YEEYEEYEEYEEYEEYEEYEEYEE!” and “LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE ACTION!” all the way. Turtleman’s personal valet, a long-bearded bloke named something like Cooter Neal, narrates: “Oh shucks. That there lake’s green. There’s a lotta cow poo in there. Turtleman’s been under for awhile. I reckon he might be fixin to diiiiie. Oh boy! That’s a turtle! Oh boy now!” For his valor, Turtleman receives $55 from grateful farmer. There is rejoicing throughout the holler. And, no, I am not making this up.

Basically, it’s a whole lotta rasslin’ critters. (As an aside: Turtleman genuinely loves the critters and seeks to help them. Turtleman is actually our kind of human. Turtleman, if you are reading this, I would love to meet you and I formally extend an invitation to Tabby’s Place. There is a lot of live action here.

So what hath Griselle, the prissy princess, to do with Turtleman? I’ll let MamaG tell the story of Grissy’s latest adventures:

“It has now been three years since Griselle was packed up and flew to her new home. Yes, it is true, time does fly by faster than the speed of sound – or Grissy trying to make it to her treat bowl when she hears the very same word.

“She has claimed the house as her home from day one. I cannot go anywhere without her following me as if I am going to do something wrong and she will tell. Tell who, I don’t know – there is always that ‘just in case.’ And on any project I set out to accomplish, you guessed right – she is there to make sure it is done to OSHA standards. Thank goodness she does not require a hard hat.

“There is the sofa issue too. When replacing my living room furniture, I decided to get two full size sofas – one for each of us. Now, both belong to her. Heaven forbid if I am sitting where she wants to be, sigh. Sleep, forget that – if she has to go potty in the middle of the night, it’s time to get up and don’t hesitate. Excuse me, don’t forget the treats.

“I’ve lost count of the lizards which Griselle plays with, kills and leaves throughout the house for me to step on. One night she was especially restless. I awoke in the morning light to find a lizard in my bed. Just recently when I came home, Griselle was playing with a Florida Ringneck snake. They are slightly venomous, but because they are so small they do not hurt anything except ants, slugs and such. Griselle clearly had a friend in this snake, so she did not try to kill or eat him. (We’ve since relocated him to a neighbor’s yard.)

“You did not tell me what a little bugger Griselle was she when I feel in love with her face. We thought she was so prim and proper, but she had us fooled. She is that child that will do what she can to pull a prank or joke at every turn.

“Grissy is now 12, and you would think she was two (in the terrible two’s, that is). She keeps me hopping and always laughing. I would go through those five days up in NJ all over again, and again, and again…

“We send our love.”

What more can I say other than YEEYEEYEEYEEYEEYEEYEEYEE? Keep the live action going, Griselle. We love you forever.

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