A turtle was spotted riding the DC Metro’s Blue Line on Wednesday night, according to reporting by WUSA9, a CBS affiliate located in Washington, DC.
According to the CBS affiliate, Rithvik Doshi, a man visiting DC from Boston, was sitting on the train when he noticed the little amphibian crawling from underneath the seats.
"I just stared with my jaw dropped for a good five seconds and watched while it crawled under another row of seats," Doshi told WUSA9. The shock Doshi was feeling did not keep him from thinking to take out his phone and record the incident. The video is available on WUSA9’s Youtube channel.
The turtke was later rescued
He proceeded to contact the relevant authorities, who were equally shocked to hear about the train turtle. Before long, The Humane Rescue Alliance, a DC-based animal rescue service the prides itself as a “national leader and local champion for all animals,” picked up the turtle and took it to DC City Wildlife.
City Wildlife is an organization dedicated to protecting and advocating “for wildlife and wildlife habitat through rehabilitation for release, public education, and community engagement.” According to their website, in recent decades, increasing human encroachment into animal habitats has driven humans and animals into closer and closer proximity.
This fact seems to shed light on one possibility of how the turtle may have ended up on the train in the first place.
Where is the turtle now?
In any case, City Wildlife confirmed with WUSA9 that they were in possession of the turtle and that the amphibian was safe.