I put my baby RES in a large flowerpot in the backyard today for extra sunning. It has dirt inside with a few little plants to hide under. The sides starting from the dirt to the top of the pot are at least 8 inches. I left him in there and went inside, since a relative was reading on the nearby back porch and could keep a watch on it. When I returned outside to check on it several minutes later... it was gone. I tracked down my cats but they've all been sleeping. It's so hot none of those furry animals really feel like hunting, playing or eating. We have cat food in the garage so any other cats usually just go eat that. I didn't think we had any birds large enough to carry off a little RES. All I've ever seen a robins, cardinals, and blue jays (which usually stay away for fear of our cats). However, the only possible explanation is cat or bird. There's no way it could have gotten out on its own, and the earth is too tightly packed and dry for it to have buried itself. I guess I'll just give up since obviously some predator took it to who knows where, but I guess I'm just curious about what in all probability happened to it. I still really don't think it was a cat because none of them were around, and I think it was something that had an overhead view of the container. Any ideas? Thanks.
By the way, the flowerpot has vertical sides, and the "plants" were just a little grass. Nothing he could have climbed. The sides of the flowerpot are slick. The turtle was around 2 or 2.5 inches.
Timeline: I put him in the flowerpot, walked out to the front of the house to get the mail. There was a CD in the mail and I went into the house and listened to part of it (maybe 30 minutes) and then went to check on the turtle. Gone. Mom was reading on the back porch and my grandmother was there too. Neither of them noticed any animals or birds come by... but then I guess they were a little distracted.
