The Kirk Dilemma: The Vanishing of Clark’s Beloved Tortoise
Amy He ’25 and Yilian Jiang ’25
Dr. Morrell & Christine Wu ’26
This school year, we walked into Clark and were confronted with an empty Kirk-shaped space where our beloved tortoise friend should have been. To our distress, three years of walking by a capacious tank and seeing a shy head peeping out of a shell had ended on a random weekday morning: the hallmark of Clark was gone. Yet, despite our mourning Kirk’s departure, we admittedly knew little about our four-legged fellow beside the signage on his enclosure and the convoluted details of his character relayed by our tour guides. Indeed, although he had amassed a cult following during his tenure, Kirk was a man of little words and much mystery. To learn more about our nebulous friend and investigate his just-as-mysterious disappearance, we spoke with Mrs. Griggs, Associate Director of the Alvord Center, about Kirk’s time at Loomis.
Loomis acquired Kirk in 2021 as part of a senior student’s Guided Research project to educate the community about endangered turtle species in Connecticut. As holding a critically at-risk animal in captivity is illegal in Connecticut, the student chose a Russian tortoise, a terrestrial species native to Central Asia that shares a similar habitat and lifestyle as native tortoise species, to educate the Loomis community on turtle conservation. Two yellow-bellied sliders named Bartholomew and Cornelius were also adopted as a part of the project. Unfortunately, the student graduated soon later, leaving the responsibility to care for the creatures in the hands of the E-Proctor program.
As aquatic turtles, Bartholomew and Cornelius required large enclosures that demanded cleaning at least twice a week. However, the E-Proctor work job only meets once every cycle; hence, it was difficult for students to coordinate the cleaning the turtles needed. In addition, without proper knowledge or experience for carrying out the long-term care of Kirk and his siblings, the E-Proctors soon faced difficulties maintaining the creatures. Soon, Loomis realized that “it was no longer fair for the turtles to [keep them] here on campus.” Therefore, after a year of caring for Bartholomew and Cornelius, a unanimous decision was made: for the turtles’ well-being, they were to be rehomed to the New England Herpetology Center (NEHS), located approximately two hours from Windsor in Weymouth, Massachusetts.
As a terrestrial tortoise whose enclosure required less consistent cleaning, Kirk was less “needy” than his aquatic cousins. Therefore, he remained on the Loomis Chaffee campus in the 2023-2024 school year. However, the Loomis community struggled to provide him with dedicated care. As Mrs. Griggs notes, “Despite [the E-Proctors] working immensely hard to care for Kirk… just like a human, [Kirk] has lots of needs that are simply difficult to be addressed by students.” This problem was especially evident in Kirk’s behavior. While his basic needs like food and water are adequately provided, Kirk was often observed to “pace back and forth around his enclosure,” indicating that its size was inadequate for the amount of exercise he needed. Occasionally, Kirk would also follow the students who walked past his tank and tap his head against the glass, a sign of distress that signals a need for enrichment and human interaction — something extremely difficult to be provided at a school setting without one dedicated caregiver. Furthermore, his care posed a problem during school breaks, which take up around a third of the calendar year. While all students leave campus during holidays, Kirk remains. This meant that E-Proctors and the Alvord Center must always find faculty willing and able to take him in – often a tedious and challenging task.
The educational aspect initially intended by the project also struggled to come to fruition. Kirk’s enclosure sits outside the Associate Director of the Alvord Center, Mr. Dyreson’s office. Hence, when tours pass by, Mrs. Griggs admits, “We can hear everything [the tour guides] say on the tours: They have no idea why [Kirk] is here.” While a group of GESC seniors in 2023 created some signage for Kirk to share more information on him with the school community, the project was also not met with as much success as intended – Kirk continued to sit in his corner in Clark, chewing away on his stale dining hall lettuce every day while busy students passed by, rushing towards their math and science classes without a backward glance.
Even as outsiders with little previous knowledge of Kirk’s situation, we were able to envision a more ideal life for him. Last spring, when we helped the E-Proctors clean out Kirk’s enclosure, we let him roam around in the grass as we hosed down and added new wood chips to his tank. After exploring his new surroundings and prodding around with his beak, Kirk settled underneath a low bush and began to dig into the mulch, exhibiting a natural behavior known as “burrowing.” He appreciated the warm sunlight and the moist soil, making it difficult for us to disrupt his much-needed enrichment time and return him to his clean enclosure. As we walked away from Clark– Kirk safely nestled back into his woodchips underneath his heat lamp, resuming his habitual lifestyle–we couldn’t help but pity him.
“It’s not to say that we don’t love Kirk,” Mrs. Griggs explains. “But we’d be happy if he could get the care he needs,” implying that he must get adopted by a loving family who has the time and resources to give him the care he deserves. Fortunately, in the summer of 2024, Dr. Morrell and Dr. Wanninger, two faculty of the LC English Department, decided to foster Kirk. They are also planning to adopt him for the indefinite future. Though Kirk will no longer be able to comfort us in his loving presence when we enter Clark anxious about our impending math tests, we are happy that Kirk can live a more enjoyable and comfortable life as a new member of the Morrell-Wanninger Family.
Although Kirk’s chapter at Loomis has ended, the question of future animals at Loomis remains open. “It’s not a no, but the school is hesitant to do so because it’s such a huge responsibility. Animals need care 365 days a year, but the school schedule is only a portion of that,” Mrs. Griggs explains. “What does it look like regarding who cares for him when we’re not here?” Therefore, it is ever more critical that the Loomis community takes an educated perspective to make responsible decisions for our animals. Having previously raised dairy cows, hens, and even goats in the Meadows, our school has deep roots in animal husbandry. However, in the current climate that we are living in, with flooding becoming increasingly frequent, we must also consider how these animals can be cared for, especially during times of unpredictable disaster. As Mrs. Griggs notes, “There’s no ‘yes or no’ that I know of, but I just want to make sure that we move into that conversation with eyes wide open.”
We recently joined Dr. Wanninger and Kirk to discuss Kirk at his new home. While Kirk roamed in the grass, we listened to Dr. Wanninger talk about his new habitat and activities as the latest member of the Morrell-Wanninger household. Observing that he tends to bump his head against the walls of his tank, she talked about potentially enlisting some students to build a new, larger enclosure for Kirk. In addition, Kirk now gets a lot of exercise. “I just put him down and let him walk, and then I follow him around[...], and he seems to like that a lot,” she said. When asked about any difficulties she has encountered while caring for Kirk, Dr. Wanninger expressed her constant worry about ensuring that Kirk has a suitable environment in which to live. Yet, it was clear that Kirk was getting pampered in his new home, receiving the proper exercise and care he needed. Dr. Wanninger even talked about getting Halloween and Christmas costumes for him! Watching Kirk curiously waddle around was a satisfying image, and we are pleased to report that Kirk is thriving in his new life filled with delicious dandelions, sunny walks, and fashionable outfits.
