HAPPY ENDING FOR TORTOISE AND PAIR.Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY Dennis McCarthy may refer to:
Chuck Buckingham was out walking the L.A. River, killing mosquitoes for the county of Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. , when we hooked up on Monday morning. Any guy who makes his living exterminating those nasty, little buggers deserves a column, but that's not why I wanted to talk to Buckingham. Charlie Brown is. Charlie is Chuck's California desert tortoise desert tortoise see gopherus agassizii. , which had been missing for two years before showing up last week - trapped under Chuck's house. Chuck adopted his pet back in 1999 from a turtle turtle, a reptile of the order Chelonia, with strong, beaked, toothless jaws and, usually, an armorlike shell. The shell normally consists of bony plates overlaid with horny shields. rescue group, and kept Charlie in the back yard of his Granada Hills home so his then 5-year-old grandson, Charles III Charles III, king of Naples Charles III (Charles of Durazzo), 1345–86, king of Naples (1381–86) and, as Charles II, of Hungary (1385–86); great-grandson of Charles II of Naples. , could get in touch with nature when he visited on the weekends. ``He was so excited when I brought Charlie home that first weekend,'' Chuck recalled. ``He couldn't wait to come over and play with him.'' Chuck explained to his grandson how tortoises can live to be 100 and survive by living off the land. And he warned the kid that Charlie would be taking the winter off, because tortoises go into hibernation until late spring or early summer. So when Charlie finally crawled out from under Chuck's house after that first winter, the first phone call Chuck made was to his grandson. ``Charles, I'm coming to pick you up,'' grandpa said. ``Charlie's back.'' When the next winter rolled around, Chuck and his grandson watched Charlie head for the crawl space crawl·space or crawl space n. A low or narrow space, such as one beneath the upper or lower story of a building, that gives workers access to plumbing or wiring equipment. Noun 1. under the house. ``See you in the summer, Charlie,'' the kid said to his friend. But the summer of 2000 came and went without any Charlie. ``We kept waiting for him to come out, but we never saw him if he did,'' Chuck said. ``I looked under the house in the crawl space but didn't see him. He wasn't there.'' The summer of 2001 came and went, too. No Charlie. ``He was always in the back of my mind,'' Chuck said. ``We just couldn't figure out where he had gone.'' This summer Chuck did his cursory cur·so·ry adj. Performed with haste and scant attention to detail: a cursory glance at the headlines. [Late Latin curs check of the crawl space and noticed a couple of loose wires dangling. ``I grabbed a flashlight and went deeper into the crawl space this time,'' he said. ``There was Charlie wrapped up tight in cable and telephone wire. ``He couldn't move, but he was still alive. I could tell he was happy to see me. He made this little noise. It was like a dog wagging his tail, glad to see someone he finally knows.'' Chuck freed Charlie and carried him out to the lawn. He put out a head of Romaine lettuce, which Charlie started to chew up for food and water. Then he walked to the phone and called his now 8-year-old grandson. ``Guess what?'' he said, excitedly. ``Charlie's back.'' Last week, Chuck and his grandson spent the weekend building Charlie a turtle house with his name on it. ``If he's been trapped under the house for two years, maybe we should change his name to Miracle,'' Chuck said. It would be a miracle if Charlie was still alive after being trapped without food or water for two years, local veterinarians Veterinarians and veterinary surgeons (vets) are medical professionals who operate exclusively on animals. Well-known and notable veterinarians include:
``Months, sure, even a year, maybe, but two?'' said Dr. Ted Adler of the Adler Veterinary Group in North Hills. ``I don't think so.'' ``But at the same time, these things "These Things" is an EP by She Wants Revenge, released in 2005 by Perfect Kiss, a subsidiary of Geffen Records. Music Video The music video stars Shirley Manson, lead singer of the band Garbage. Track Listing 1. "These Things [Radio Edit]" - 3:17 2. (tortoises) are flat-out amazing a·maze v. a·mazed, a·maz·ing, a·maz·es v.tr. 1. To affect with great wonder; astonish. See Synonyms at surprise. 2. Obsolete To bewilder; perplex. v.intr. because of the things they can survive,'' he added. ``That's why they've been around for a few hundred million years.'' Chuck finds it pretty hard to believe Charlie's been trapped under his house for two years, too. But if he wasn't there, where has he been? And how and when did he decide to find his way back home - only to get trapped in cable wires under the house? ``All I know is Charlie was really weak when I carried him out to the lawn and gave him that lettuce,'' Chuck said Monday, getting back to killing mosquitoes for the county. ``I swear, if he could have kissed me, he would.'' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Chuck Buckingham, left, holds his pet tortoise tortoise (tôr`təs), common name for a terrestrial turtle, especially one of the family Testudinidae. Tortoises inhabit warm regions of all continents except Australia. Charlie Brown, on Monday as friend Mike Medrano looks on. The pet had been missing for two years. Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer |
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