Eli the Box Turtle | P2

0:00Hey friends, it's Mr. Jim and welcome back to Kids Animal Stories. Last time we saw that Eli the Eastern Box Turtle was in some need of some serious help. The hinge on his shell has gotten stuck after his hibernating and he's going to need some serious help from a friend but he's got to be quick because the hawk is starting to get closer. Are you guys ready for today's adventure? Meet you, let's go! As the hawk was flying over Eli's head, he froze. In the grass he had to pretend to be a stone, maybe a rocker, a log? I don't know, but he was trying to not move. I try not to bring any attention to himself because the bottom of his shell, which is called

1:03the plastron, has a hinge like a door and that's the way that he closes it to protect himself from something like a hawk that might want to eat him and we don't want Eli to be eaten. Oh no, what's going to happen? Oh no, alright, I have to make it over to the river. Maybe Oli will be able to help me, said Eli. Eli was very close to the river and could hear Oli the otter splashing in the river. Oli, Oli! Eli was trying to whisper yell, do you know how to whisper yell? Hey, how long can you hear me? That's a funny way to talk. Well Eli was trying to get Oli's attention but Oli was having so much fun splashing in the water. He did not hear him. Oh boy, this is just the best day ever. The river is so clean and the water feels so good on my tail on my fur.

2:04I just love this. Oli was having too much fun, but then all of a sudden. Wait, what was that sound? He looked around and could see, oh hey Eli, said Oli. How's it going? It's good to see ya. It looks like he just woke up from your big long hibernation. Hey Oli, I'm not doing well. Get over here. Said Eli. As Oli the river otter was swimming over to the shore where Eli was standing. He said, hey bunny, it's so good to see ya, so what's going on? Oh boy, I'm so glad that you finally heard me. You see the hinge on the bottom of my shell, it got stuck. I don't know if it's from all the mud that I was buried in, hibernating, but I can't close my hinge right now. Oh no, that's like your most important part.

3:06Okay, well I got a fine tool, maybe, uh uh uh. Oli started to panic. He was thinking and trying to think really hard of what kind of tool he could use to clean out that hinge. Maybe it would clean it out enough so that it could close. Oh, I have an idea. I saw some um, some plasticky, metaly, hard things over there. Hold on. Eli the river otter dove into the water splash and swam just a little ways down and he was searching through the sand. River otters have really cute little hands. Can you picture them shuffling through the sand? His little fingers and his hands moving very quickly. He was looking for something that he saw earlier and uh, da da da da da da da da da da da da. Oh, here it is. He grabbed it and swam back over to Eli the box turtle. All right, uh, roll over. I can't roll over. I'm not a dog, say to Eli.

4:07Oh, okay, but I need to get to your hinge and it's on your belly. Uh, well, can I roll you over really carefully? Okay, Eli the box turtle did not like to be rolled over ever. It just felt really uncomfortable for a turtle to lay on his back. But this was an emergency and he really needed the help. Ali the otter carefully rolled him over on his back and took a look at the hinge. Oh no, yeah, your hinge is very dirty. Uh-huh, it definitely needs to be cleaned out fast. Oh no, that was the sound of the hawk. Ali's got to act fast. The tool that he was wanting to use that he had found in the river was a white plastic spoon. Somebody's garbage that had fallen into the river somehow. As Ali carefully began to clean the hinge and get all the mud and clay off with the spoon,

5:07Eli was getting dizzy. Oh, Ali, I don't like being upside down to make you me very dizzy. Oh, oh, oh. Yeah, when box turtles are on their back, it's not a good thing. They make some dizzy and it makes their tummy hurt and oh, we got to get this done fast. Ali kept cleaning away at the hinge hoping that it would be done in time. You see that hinge? I said that word earlier, the plastron. Can you say plastron with me? Yeah, plastron. Plastron is the belly part, the bottom part of a turtle's shell. All turtles have that plastron part on the bottom. And then the top part, it's called a carapace, say carapace. Good job. Yeah, those different parts of the turtle's shell are really important. And do you know what they're made of? They're made of something called keratin. Yeah, do you know what keratin is? It's what our fingernails are made of.

6:08Right now, touch your fingernails. That is the same ingredient that Eli the Box Turtle's shell is made of. Wow, I didn't know we have little turtle shells on the end of our fingers. That's pretty silly. Well, Ali, the river otter was almost done cleaning out the hinge on Eli's shell. All right, I'm almost done. This is, this is totally gonna work. All right. The hawk was very close. He had landed on a tree branch right immediately above them. Oh boy, I think you're good to go. I really gotta get back in the water. I don't want that hawk to get me. Ali, the river otter, carefully budged Eli the Box Turtle back over on his feet. Oh, it feels so good to not be on my back anymore, said Eli. Ali jumped into the water just in time as the hawk swooped his big claws down and left empty handed.

7:14Oh boy, I hope my, hope my hinge works. Said Eli. As he tried to close up his shell to protect himself from the next swoop coming from the hawk, it worked. His shell was able to close on the bottom completely. Oh boy, it's so good to be home again. Yeah, Box Turtles, they carry their home with them. It's pretty cool how that shell was made so that they can feel nice and safe inside, and no creature can crack down that door, that hinge, because it's so completely strong. But I guess, while hibernating, I guess that hinge got a little too dirty to close. And I'm very glad that Eli had his friend, Ali, the river otter. That was able to help clean his hinge just in time. Wow, it's so good to have a good friend that can help you when you need it, right? Yeah, or maybe it's even more awesome to be the friend, to help. It's kind of cool that Ali stepped up and helped Eli right when he needed him,

8:20even if it was a little scary with the hawk flying overhead. The end. Great job. All right, who remembers what is the top part of a turtle shell called? Is it the carapace or the plastron? The carapace! Yes, the plastron is on the bottom. Good job. And last question, who remembers what the box turtle's shell is made of? Is it made of carrots or... Carroton, the same stuff as our fingernails? Yeah, not carrots. Carroton! Great job, friends. Well, I will see you on our next adventure. Bye!