Ladies and Gentlemen, We Give You: The Happiest Tortoises on the Planet.
“Mashed potatoes? My favorite!”
“A strawberry?! My favorite!!“
“Raspberries Another strawberry?!?!?!? MY FAVORARRGTHMMGPTHOMNOMNOM!!!!!!!1!!!“
The Happiest Tortoises on the Planet
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{ 161 comments }
That’s not a raspberry!
Yay for happy tortoises!
So it’s a strawberry, they might be nearsighted. LOVELY to see such happy guys though!
I think he has a perma-smile
(as in, permanent smile hehe)
[blows a razzberry]
OK, there’s one!
OOooooh. Happy toitles!
Adorable! I had no idea turtles like mashed potatoes!
I love the huge eyes and big smile!
All of the little captions were said, in my head, in a Michaelangelo voice from TMNT, for some reason.
ROCK ON DEWDS!!!111
LMFAO!!! I love the MY FAVORARRGTHMMGPTHOMNOMNOM!!!!!!!1!!!“ capshun!! I immediately had people in my cubicle when I lol’d at that!!
Aww…the first one looks like the tortoise I used to have! And yeah, they’ll eat pretty much anything in my experience. It’s so cute watching them eat!
LOL Everything is crossed out
Am I crazy or did someone forget to close a strikeout text-decoration tag on, like, the whole site?
Cute turtle.
strike this commentFIXED!!!!111!!!!
The text not the turtle.
Sorry about the strikeout problem. That was me.
he’s smilingks!!!
Tyra likes him because he’s smiling with his eyes. He’s totally got what it takes.
Well, I’d heard about the Slow Food movement, but this is the first time I’ve seen it in action.
And really, who doesn’t love mashed potatoes?
Other Mike,
I cannot believe you know that song, “Oh Sweet Mystery of Life at last I’ve found You!”
When I was little, i used to come around the corner and my father would belt that song out in a Dudley Dooright kind of way.
who took these marvelous pictures? they are truly amazingk!
Now THAT’s a jazzed & HAPPY turtle !!!
(Walks away, humming “doo-ten doo doo”, etc.)
I think the key is in how he is trying so hard to look directly at what he’s eating XD
LOVE IT.
oops of course i knew they’re tortoises ….heh heh heh
(continues walking away, face growing as red as the stromberries….)
especially that last photo, LOL!
Slow down, you move to fast
ya got ta make the mornin’ last — just
kickin’ down the cobble stones
lookin for fun n feelin’ groovy!
You nom too fast — got to make the berries last!
These pictures are adorable, melts my heart to see the turtle soo happy!
@catloveschanel….fans of Young Frankenstien (or Fronkensteen) will also know that song.
I thought this was a series of pics of the turtle from the previous haiku post. He was eating to self-medicate after a bad breakup with the fishie.
Not that I have EVER done that, although mashed potatoes are a good comfort food…..
That’s what I get like around chocolate!
This made my day. I just love trutles. I spent a lot of last summer rescuing them from the middle of the road. Haven’t seen many this summer, maybe they cross faster now?
Woops, “turtles” not “trutles”. UGH! Hate this heat, it’s fogging up my brain!
Turkle day at CO! Won’t somebody save the wee turrrtles?
You know it’s funny…all these anerable little fuzzy things posted every day….and this…this takes the cake for me. The tortoise is so ultra pumped. TortoBliss for the Wins.
PS “We called him Tortoise because he taught us.”
My yellow-bellied slider Fareway, can see me comin’ from across the room with a strawberry! He gobbles them right up…when he used to live in a glass tank, he would mistake my red toenails for berries if I stood in front of the tank
Tortoises inhabited by the souls of dogs! Everything is their favorite!
re two different song suggestions:
re Slow Down (S & G/ 59th Street bridge song): which brings to mind the pheNOMenal shot of GP’s crossing the brick street
re. Oh Sweet Mystery of life (also known for — I believe — the Romantic French Skunk guy who kept falling in love w/ cats in the — possibly — Merrie Melodies cartoons)
Haha! He looks like he thinks all his Christmases have come at once. Love those wide eyes!
Great, now all I can hear is Cookie Monster’s “Om nom nom nom nom…” when I visit this site.
Do I spy a tortoise tongue in photo 3?
Love the pics of happy tortoises!
OMG! So cute!!!!!
I can’t blame the little dood for that smile, I could go for some mashed taters myself.
Trixie – TOOO funny! Me and my friends love to poke fun at Tyra and her Tyra-isms.
He is so delighted!! He totally captures the essence of how I feel when I am chowing down on my favorite food. He should be in commercials for breakfast cereal.
Noelle (the First)–I think “trutles” is an excellent term. Trutles are the opposite of “False-tles” (not to be confused with Falsies, a different concept altogether). A Trutle is honest and forthright, as well as being the Certified Genuine Article. Trutles love good fresh homegrown food, like mashed organic potatoes and hand-picked strawberries. False-tles, on the other hand, eat instant mashed potatoes and strawberry-flavored Twizzlers. False-tles also lie a lot and sell you substandard used cars.
OMG! turrtuhl teef!
‘Sweet Mystery of Life’ immediately reminds me of ‘Young Frankenstein’~ I think this turtle’s just about as Happy as Madeline Khan. And that’s pretty darned happy!
VON Z. you are the cutest!
Yet again, I applaud the inclusion of our scaled friends on CO.
You don’t need fur to be cute!
The best part is that the tortoise really IS smiling in every shot. LOVE it!
That’s a LOT of mashed potatoes. He’s gonna have to pace himself.
Ah, the memories this brings back. True terrapin happiness is a nice sliced tomato on a paper plate.
My little nephew says ‘My favorite!’ to anything he likes to eat. Ergo, I heard the turtle saying it in his voice. It’s so cute!
We need more cold-blooded cute animals here.
I’m so happy to see such a content-looking tortoise. Maybe he can teach Richard to eat veggies and fruits!
Oh, if I’m not mistaken, there are at least 2 different tortoises in that post.
OMG – sooooo cute…. I LOVE EEET!!!!
Ah Saffron, Leslie and Daisy
~ thanks for the song info ~ Oh yeah, Young Frankenstein, duh.
I emailed my dad and he said it was from an opera Jeanette MacDonald – Nelson Eddy sang together. Anyways, my dad got a big old chuckle out of that.
Turtles turtles turtles!!!
I was with someone who was tortoise-sitting once. The tortoise was named Reba (hm). Watching Reba (or any tortoise) eat makes me anxious because they seem so sort of haphazard in their chomping. They have (natch) a really slow approach, then sort of grab randomly at the food with their sharp little moufs. It’s a wonder they get any nourishment at all, really. But obviously it works!
YF refs always make me happy!!
Trutle looks VERY happy as well!!!
Love it! Never seen a tortoise so happy.
LOL @ MY FAVORARRGTHMMGPTHOMNOMNOM!!!!!!!1!!!“
Yum yum! Those mashed potatoes look delicious. (I skipped lunch today.) The partially eaten strawberries, not so much.
This looks like an excerpt from Erik Carle’s newest book: “The Very Hungry Turtle”!
“Sweeeet!”
“Totally!”
Ok, turtles/tortoises eating stuff is officially my new favourite thing. These pics are great!
His little mouth is wanting a big bite. More butter please.
SO cute!!! Love the strawberry photos, looks like it has a HUGE grin on its face! ehehehe nomnomnomnomnom
Awwww, this made me LOL. They look so excited about eating!
I don’t think I’ve ever seen an enthusiastic turtle before! These guys are great!
The last turtle looks like it’s saying “Mine! Mine! Mine!”
The Enthusiastic Turtles would be a great name for a rock band…
VonZep wins this thread!
[What, again?? - Ed.]
Your prize, esteemed winner, is a half-nommed strawberry.
Are you kidding? He’s just smiling because he tried Enzyte, natural turtle enhancement!
@ kczg (or something like that !!)
re your tale …..My mind is now wandering all around the neighborhood of “turtle/tortoise”-sitting. Now THAT is a resposible pet- lover.
After all (bracing myself against the corner for the likely backlash) ….how much TRUBZ can a turtle/tortoise get into ????? Don’t they just sit still for hours every day?
OMFG! that is adorableeeeeeeeeeee!
Turtles look so prehistoric to me. They really are amazingly strange. If I was a little lady bug, just minding my own beeswax, strolling along in the grass and came upon the scene in the third picture, I might think I had landed on the set of “Godzilla vs BerryMan over Tokyo” …
Slowest nommings ever. I can’t tell if these are still images or movies!
This is the 76th comment, so I’m sure it’s been said already, but I’ve never had the pleasure of seeing a tortoise smile before. It’s been totally worth the wait, I must say! What an adorable, adorable happy face. Talk about happy Fridays!
What about pizza? ^_^ Go ninja turtle!
Just last week I was thinking, “NTMOM is not that great, I need more Meg.”
Boy howdy, I must have been smoking something because NTMOM, I love you. Thanks for the insanely funnies that you give us everyday.
I love how happy these turtles look.
Wowhaaaaaaaaaeeeeo!!!!!! I’m inlove!!!
Thank god for blessing this world with turtles! It’d be such a gloomy unworthy place without them!
OMG! you’re all idiots…
I really want to touch them. How lovely.
Design yourself, you’ll be more popular with our stuff.
Why hesitate? Don’t miss out. Just CLICK me.
Awwww, he’s cute!
I may or may not have an entire folder on my computer dedicated to happy turtles eating things.
momof2kittiesandapuppeh, you honor me, madam. (Deep bow, doffs tricorn hat). I can but express my most humble appreciation.
I still like this cheerful turtle.
this made my day. SOOOO cute and happy!
“We called him Tortoise because he taught us,”
(LOVE this..)
Theresa is that from Alice in Wonderland???
I am WRACKING my brains if it’s not..lol
Sweet torties…
such adorable enthusiasm!
*Brilliant* hovertexts, especially the last one!!!
(You made a yummy sound.)
catloveschanel: It sounds like you have a sweet dad.
As for the tortoises, LOVE them!
PS did any one notice the URL for this one? Ren and Stimpy reference FTW!
This tortoise is living the life.
NTMTOM, I have loved that sweet mystery of life song since Madeline Kahn belted it out years ago! Seeing it in your post evoked a great memory.
You ain’ seen nothin’ till you’ve seen a tortoise/turtle predator attack a delicious meal worm or sow bug. My son had one as a scout project a few years ago and I couldn’t believe how fast they move when offered something a bit more meaty. Tortoises are omnivores.
aawwwhhh!!! cute! cute! cute! happy turtle!!:D
Too sweet
i wonder how much turtle a strawberry becomes…
I love it i love it i love it!!!!
Why is everyone saying turtle? Its a tortoise it says so in the title
these are adorable. I also had no idea that tortoise would eat mashed potatoes and strawberries. Nor did I know that they could smile. Love it.
Is it an American thing to not know the difference between a tortoise and a turtle? These are pics of tortoises, turtles are quite different (they swim and do karate for a start)
i love this tor-tor but i’m relatively new to CO so teach me why is he not blorp?
[Blorp is squishier. Technically speaking. - Ed.]
Ooops! I didn’t mean to do that (my real name). How do I get a cool name like everybody else? (pouty face)
[Set up a free WordPress account, then tweak your profile as you please - Ed.]
thanks for the pics… made my evening.
“We called him Tortoise because he taught us,” — yup, Alice in Wonderland
loved the “trutles” and “falste-tles” defined, as well.
as for tortoise/turtle , it’s all right, not all of us can be scientists.. much like the croc/gator confusion for many… i’d probably run away before asking if it’s a gator or not.
nomnomnomnom turles/tortoises is enjoice.
As fun ans cute as it is to see a tortoise eating its favourite food, the first photo is an aberration. Please, please, PLEASE, DO NOT ever feed your tortie potatoes. This is a food they would not eat in the wild -least of all cooked!- so it’s like, VERY BAD for them.
The belief that this animals instinctly know what’s good or bad for them is more a myth than a fact.
Healthy tortoise feeding tips on http://www.thetortoiselady.com/
That said, Tortoises are mega-cute!
[Here's what Animal Planet has to say about feeding Turtles, Tortoises & Terrapins... Page 1, Page 2 - Ed.]
They’re not turtles people they’re tortoises!
its easy to tell the difference. Turtles have flippers, tortoises have feet.
OMG I AM an idiot!
ha. Is it that obvious?
I sent pic #3 to cuteoverload before (a loooong time ago) as a suggestion. I’m glad it made an appearance, it was too cute not to show to the world.
Turtles eating gets me EVERY TIME.
Their “smiles” are to die for! So cute!
I think he likes strawberrys!
Turtles do indeed eat berries – we had one passing through our yard back east. He or she just appeared one day after a major rainstorm. So I named it Tommy, and brought it some blueberries to eat. I’d watch him gobble it up. He hung around for a few days, then went on his way.
I don’t know about the mashed potatoes thing, but I guess all animals eat potatoes in one form or another. That would explain why the birds attack people exiting from McDonald’s, for the French fries.
NOM NOM NOM!
My tortoise LOVES berries too!
But potatoes are a HUGE NO-NO, so don’t feed them that!
Berries can only be an occasional treat.
Cute tortoises there!
P.s my tortoise eats like that too – MWARFFFFNOMNOMNOMNOMCHOMP.
He looks adorable, chomping away. I wonder how long it took him to eat all the mashed potatoes
I had lots of tortoises when I was a little girl, until their import into the UK was (thankfully) banned. I loved watching them eat, with their necks arched and their mouths almost unhinged. They would chomp on your toesies if you were barefoot, but I never knew they ate mashed potato.
I like the work of the author Richard Adams. Best known for “Watership Down,” but he also wrote “The Plague Dogs,” “Maia,” and “Girl In A Swing.” The last was made into a movie many years ago, starring Meg Tilly. Her character was German, and there was a plot element dealing with a green pillow shaped like a turtle. Except she called it a tortoise. And the way she pronounced it was oddly endearing (although the movie itself is sad). She said it with three syllables: “tor-to-wiss.” Sort of rhyming with “Lois.” And I’ve always heard the word “tortoise” in my head that way since then.
Happy tortoii!
Did somebody say mashed potatoes???
[Pillowy mounds!! - Ed.]
Reminds me of this video:
OMG Bickle, he’s not EATING the potatoes, he’s SNORGLING them! *shakes head in confusion*
if only evry1 could aproach life that way, a lot of ppl wud b SO much happier
that last turtle is all like, “this is sparta!!!! om nom nom nom nom….”
Those cute tortoise pictures look just like my tortoise that ran away! Her name was “Shelly”. Has anyone found “Shelly”? She loved corn on the cob!!
Gorgeous! I love turtles, they are so cute!!!
These photo’s are adorable. Not trying to be a know it all but that is a TURTLE and not a Tortoise in the photo’s. There are major differences. I have 5 “lady” turtles that live in my backyard. They are ornate box turtles, just like the one in the photo’s. And they are GREAT pets. Each one has an individual personality. There is “Momma” who’s the biggest and oldest. Then there is “Viola” because she has color and is very pretty so we wanted her to have a pretty name. Then there is “June Bug” because she ADORES junebugs. Then we have “Tinsey” because she’s the smallest. And not least but always LAST on the food rock, is “pokey”. She’s not so bright and she’s slower than the others. Their fav. foods are LIVER, CHICKEN, CRICKETS/JUNEBUGS, zuchinni/carrots/strawberries/peaches/cantelope/lettuces. They have a friend who stays in their enclosure with them. He’s a leopard frog. They like him so he hangs out with them. Turtles and Tortoises are GREAT! We also have one yellow belly slider named Johnny Cash and his two ladies named “A girl named Sue” and June. They love dried shrimp, dried crickets, lettuce. I’ll let them have some strawberry and see how they like it!
OOOPpps! The one eating the “taters” IS a tortoise! My bad!
My box turtles loved eating from the strawberry patch too!
SO CUTE~!
I really love the idea that a turtle/tortoise could, at the sight and taste of a succulent strawberry, be positively overwhelmed with a turtle-ish sense of joy and euphoria.
See, perhaps the confusion comes from the fact that we have North American box turtles over here, and yes they are called turtles.
“As an example of a good, healthy meal for a box turtle, try a salad of chopped grapes, dandelion, and grated carrot, and add a delightful topping of earthworm. This should convince your turtle that you are a good provider. A couple days later, try a mushroom and a strawberry on a turnip leaf, with a few sowbugs on top, lightly garnished with calcium powder. Mmm, mmm, good!”
@ Paunchie:
wow, how useful & truly cool of folks to research nutritional goodness for reptillian/amphibian guys w/ shells on their backs …but …..
(” a delightful topping of earthworm”???? wow. “No, really, you feel free to have mine; I’m dieting this week!!”)
Actually…. there’s not just 2 but THREE turtles
And they all have that same OMG EYES SMILE FOOD NOMS expression
All turtles are adorable when they eat, I think ^^
classic *thumbs up*
Very funny.
They love green beans too. Corn and squash too. But mine
doesn’t like cantalope or watermelon.
sooo nomilicious
Awwwwwwwwwwwwww……………………………..
Little Torty looks sooooooooo happy!!!!:-D
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
sooooo sweet!
oo stawberyy!?!?my fave!!! *nomnommfhtmn!!!*
lol i want a hapee towtis!!!
Can i have some of dat stwawberry?
I went up north this summer (Bruce Peninsula) and saw turtle crossing signs on a few roads. The turtles were a bit bigger and I think they eat fish….but just as cute even if my car riding buddies called me crazy. Snappers are adorable!!
Hahahaha! So cute! X3
CUTE!
I am putting this on my wall!
NOMMM NOMMM sound cracks me up everytime.
@Steve: Ohh shhadda up! (Use Archie Bunker style voice from All In the Family)
I seriously don’t get people who get jazzed about this sort of thing.
Que coisa mais linda!!! Kawaiii *_____*~<3
nice pix, but whoever wrote this is not educated in turtles, as 2 of the 3 are box turtles not TORTISES.
yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay
i just love happy animals xD
sorry for the follow up i dont have website and i tought you must type something
OMG THIS IS THE CUTEST THING I HAVE EVER SEEN IN MY WHOLE LIFE NOW MY FAVOURITE ANIMAL ON EARTH HAS 2 BE A TURTUHL NOW B COZ OF THIS OMG QT HEVEN OMG I AM SO GOING 2 ROB MY CUZZIN KAEL’S TORTOISE, KOOPA OMG LIKE TOTALLY THIS IS AWESOME WHERE CAN I GET SOME MORE MASH POTATO PLEASE?!
OMG!!! That’s incredible!!!) I love it! I will add this photos to my blog
they’re so cute.. can’t stop looking at them *winks*
That little tort is munchin’ down- he’s the cutest thing ever.
omg that was the cutest!!!! tortise ive ever seen u r soo lucky i lov that tortise
These creatures are TORTOISES, NOT TURTLES, PLEASE!!
[Actually, they're Torpeltinis. Totally. - Ed.]
well he looks happy
Meg – I think you should credit the person who owns the photo of the tortoise eating the mashed potato. You know what i’m talking about. You are not above copyright laws.
Everyone else – did you know when you permit Meg to use YOUR photos you are signing away your rights to them and allowing her to make money off them from this website and her calendars and books, and YOU won’t be paid a penny?
[First, that's a rerun. Second, read the contract. - Ed.]
Actually I know for a fact she didn’t submit her photo to you, and has never given you permission to use it.
My favorite CuteOverload post EVER?
Yes!
awesome
The top photo looks cute but it is very bad for a tortoise to be eating mash potato. I hope that was a one off & the tort doesn’t get fed mash on a regular basis. The tort should be on a diet of weeds/flowers.
it looks like he’s smiling
“mashed potatoes? yum!”
“strawberry? yum!”
“strawberry! wha? strawberry? whatever… yum!”
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