Always fun to see my engineering being used :-) Several years ago, I saw a wild turtle/tortoise walking around the edge of my pond. I'm no expert, but I didn't see flippers and it definitely wasn't the Eastern box turtle that I see all the time. But I thought he was trying to take a sip of water. Then he fell in, hard! Big splash with a surprised look on his face! Now, the edges of my pond are straight up and down, so NO way for him to get out. I rushed over, but the water was too dark to see him and the sludge in the bottom was too thick. I tried for awhile with a net but couldn't find him, so my last ditch effort was to take a nearby deck board and wedge it in there, hoping maybe he could use it as a ladder and get out. I never knew if he found the board or got out, but I haven't seen an empty shell or anything so I hope so. And the board has been there ever since, just in case. Today, I finally had vindication when I saw this turtle making his way out of the pond :-D Originally by u/csdude5 on Reddit: https://tinyurl.com/2c3nafuz