Turtles Are Fast

Five weeks ago, I found a tiny little pond turtle (Mauremys reevesii) while I was working out (previous posts: Adopting Oogway, Oogway's Outing, Oogway's Progress).

He was 2.8cm and somewhat shell-shocked when I came across him stranded on the asphalt. He's now 3.2cm, strong and confident. Here he is engaged in one of his favourite activities, mountain climbing:

Mauremys reevesii pond turtle
Oogway the tiny Mauremys reevesii pond turtle

The "mountain" is actually more of a lump of dirt and rocks, but you know, he's 3.2cm and horizontally inclined.

The first time he tried to conquer this summit, he made it partially up and then fell backward. That doesn't happen anymore though. He's determined and fully 4WD powered! 

The biggest shocker for me though, is how fast he is. Turns out, turtles can run. Really run.

To give you an idea of how quickly he moves, here's a short video of Oogway working out on his custom treadmill, with a clip of his first attempt to summit the mountain at the end: