Slow down a spell and stop at the Rushford Public Library to visit their in-house pet, Emerson, the tortoise. No need to be in a hurry, as she is always there waiting for attention.
Emerson is a female Greek desert tortoise who came to live at the library in October of 2014 when a local family whose son was going away for college and would not be able to care for her anymore.
The family asked the Rushford Library if they would like to have Emerson as a pet and the library agreed, as they saw the potential for an educational experience with patrons of the library, especially children.
“Everybody loves her,” states library aide Deb Ambuehl, explaining that people are always asking, “where’s Emerson?” when they come into the library.
Kids and adults enjoy spending time with Emerson, according to Ambuehl, and if you sit on the floor she will crawl into your lap — if given enough time.
They can hand-feed her, which the kids really like to participate in, and that always leads to various questions about tortoises.
Emerson’s favorite things to eat are sugar snap peas and romaine lettuce, and she loves avocados. She is fed sugar snap peas every afternoon and romaine lettuce each evening. Avocado is a treat that Emerson gets when someone at the library brings it in for her, and she loves it. A very special snack in the summertime is a small piece of watermelon, but not too much, as watermelon has a lot of water in it and Emerson doesn’t need very much water.
Emerson is a very healthy tortoise who is currently 7 1/2 years old. Greek desert tortoises have an average lifespan of 40 years, so Emerson will be greeting visitors at the library for many years to come.
When Emerson came to live at the library she was approximately four inches in diameter. Over time she has grown to about eight inches by nine inches. She will not grow much more, if at all.
Emerson loves attention from visitors and likes her shell scratched. “She will wiggle back and forth when you scratch her shell sometimes,” states Ambuehl.
She is kept in one area of the library most of the time and the library staff places boxes to block the walkways to keep her in that area, but she can push the boxes out of the way enough to try and get out when she is determined.
“When she’s had enough of her little area she makes it known,” explains Ambuehl. Emerson is given a little extra attention when she lets them know she wants human contact.
Being a Greek desert tortoise, Emerson likes to be very warm, preferably a temperature around 90 degrees, so one of her favorite places to spend time in her area of the library is next to a heat source.
Emerson also has a comfortable cage with plenty of space for her to burrow herself down into the layers of timothy grass and wood chips. She can also eat the timothy grass if she wants something to nibble on between meals. The door of her cage is kept open and has a ramp for her to go up and down to get into and out of her cage.
Emerson celebrates holidays along with the library staff and patrons and has costumes she wears throughout the year for these occasions. Joan Kauphusman of Winona, Minn., has created several costumes for Emerson to recognize Easter, Thanksgiving, July 4, birthdays and more.
Ambuehl notes that Emerson is the “perfect pet” as no one is allergic, there is no risk of salmonella like there is with turtles, and they are easy to care for.
Ambuehl feels that having a pet at the Rushford Public Library has been a positive addition that brings the community in to the library. “It brings people in, definitely,” she states, adding, “we get people from everywhere that come in to see her,” because they have visited her before or they heard about her from someone else.
“It’s kind of a niche we have,” states Ambuehl. “It brings questions from the kids,” which is educational and enjoyable for everyone.
Break out of your shell after the long winter and visit Emerson at the Rushford Public Library. Library hours are Monday 12-7 p.m., Tuesday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., Wednesday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Thursday 10 a.m. – 7 p.m., Friday 10 a.m. – 6 p.m., Saturday 10 a.m. – 2 p.m., and closed on Sunday. For additional information phone (507) 864-7600 or visit the Rushford Library’s Facebook page at facebook.com/rushfordpubliclibrary.
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