The Appeal. [volume] (Saint Paul, Minn. ;) 1889-19??, 1889-03-16
A COX TURTLE.
Some OF The Odd Ways of Il Very Pecr
Little Animal

Some Of the Odd Ways of a Very Peculiar
Little Animal.
A Brooklyn boy, writing to the
Christian Union, asks that I shall tell
him ''all about turtles-land turtles,
water turtles and every other kind of
turtles--especially the box TURTLE"
l don't suppose, my friend. that you
meant to set me such a task, but you
have really asked me to write book,
and Pm sadly afraid the editor wouldn't
be willing to give up the whole paper
to an account of those queer little
bodies who wear their bones outside,
instead of inside, as the rest OF us do,
no matter how interesting it might be.
Why, do you know there are hun
dred of kinds of turtles, from sea
monsters, the size of a big double bed,
down to droll little fresh-water fellows
that Can hide under a three cent piece?
There are sixty kinds that live in
fresh water alone. So, unles you can
persuade the editor to let me have the
whole paper some day-and almost
know you can mott shall have to con-
fine myself to the one you ask par
ticularly about, the box turtle.
This parsonage has a proper scien-
tific name, of course, and if you want
to read about him in the big books,
you may look for Tertudo Carolina.
The box turtle, who is so. much better
OIL than the rest of his family that ne
can go into his house and shut the
door, is found all over the United States
east Of the Mississippi river; not in
swa1nps or woods, but in pastures and
uplands, where grow the mushrooms
ana toadstools on which he lives. He
is one Of the smaller varieties, rarely
more than seven inches long. But if
some of his relatives exceed him in
inches, few can Guido him in age; he
has been known to live one hundred
years.
This may be due to the fact that he
is calm in temperament; he takes
things as he finds them, and never
frets. If some inquisitive boy tethers
him to post on the lawn, as a. certain
young friend of mine often does, he
never thinks of raging around, and
wearing himself out, as do many Great
ures; he simply digs a hole and retires
from the light of day. Should he be
placed in a box or pen, with sides too
high for him to climb over, he Just
shuts up his doors and waits till his
captor gets tired of pet so dull. He
can wait better than any body I know.
He doesn't care for three meals a
day; he is able to fast a long time; and,
so far from liking the water, he will
die if he is kept in it. ,-~ ...,.
The young friend mentioned above
is particularly fond of turtles, and on
going to the country in the summer
the first thing he does is to scour the
neighborhood and set up a turtle pen.
Last. summer, out on Long Island, he
had six Or eight turtles in pen which
he filed every dsy with fresh water,
and two box turtles, which were tied
in the yard. The smaller of the two
was about three inches long, and was
much interested in it. It was the first
l had noticed closely, for must admit
that almost my live creature is more
attractive to me than the reptile It
is altogether too cool-blooded for nv
taste.
But this little boxed-up youngster
was curious. When the shell box was
placed on the table near the burning
lamp, it's owner was out of sight every
door shut, apparently not at home to
callers. His house was decorated with
orange and black in beautiful pat
tern, and as clean and bright as if Il
were scrubbed and polished every day,
like Philadelphia doorstep.
While we were admiring his man
sion, we noticed that the front door
was ajar just crack probably
enough to let the hermit peep out. We
kept perfectly still, and very slowly il