A Ferndale nursery school had an unexpected visitor last week, and for a brief moment, it sparked what can only be described as a reptile custody dispute.

Staff at Kidz Inc. Nursery School were going about their day when an extramural facilitator spotted an unusual guest sitting quietly in the garden bed beneath the school’s large tree. The creature was promptly identified as a tortoise, confidently and, as it turned out, incorrectly.

Read more: The unidentified reptile

Principal Janet Maduary was called. Photos were taken. A mild panic set in.

“We knew we couldn’t just adopt a random reptile,” said the school’s owner and director, Michelle van der Berg. “We also weren’t entirely sure whether it might bite someone.”

The school, like many modern institutions, posted on the Ferndale WhatsApp group.

Responses came quickly. One resident issued a warning about Salmonella and vicious bites. A nature lover offered to collect the animal for rehabilitation. Meanwhile, staff members were quietly Googling and made a discovery; their visitor had a suspiciously flat head and body.

Also read: Back to nature between the covers

It was not a tortoise at all. It was a marsh terrapin. Then things got complicated.

A gentleman arrived at the school hoping the animal might be his mother’s tortoise, which had gone missing three weeks earlier. Shortly afterwards, a neighbour turned up with a different claim; he believed it was his terrapin. For a short while, Kidz Inc. found itself mediating what felt very much like a custody battle over a reptile.

After closer inspection, the matter was resolved. The terrapin was identified and returned safely to its rightful owner, an adventurous little explorer, reunited with home at last.

For the staff, it was an unexpected lesson in reptile identification. For the school, it was just another day.

“Kidz Inc. can now officially add temporary terrapin sanctuary to its list of services,” Van der Berg said. “All in a day’s work at a school where even the wildlife feels welcome.”

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