“John Miller, courtesy of the Missouri Department of Conservation”
The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles weren’t the only reptile superheroes born in 1984 — Peanut the Turtle was born that year in Missouri, and she’s celebrating four decades of using her own mutation in the fight against litter.
According to the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC), Peanut, a red-eared slider, was trapped in a discarded plastic six-pack ring as a very young turtle. As her shell grew around the constricting plastic, it developed a figure-eight shape that inspired her name and turned her into an anti-littering superhero.
Over the years, Peanut has been featured on television, in newspapers, at the Missouri State Fair, and even on international platforms like The Dodo, reminding audiences everywhere about the dangers of litter to wildlife…