Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1915-05-07
The Portable Householder
By Samuel ScOville. Jr.

On the morning Of April % I was out
In the woods before breakfast watching
a pair Of whlte-breasted nuthatches In
their nest in a hole in tulip tree. Sud-
denly heard rustic at my feet, and
looking down / saw Mr.. Box Turtle, the
original inventor of the portable house.
He had Just come up from his long win
ter sleep 16 inches underground, for the
clay was still sticking to his shell, which
was thick and carved and covered with
bright yellow marks. some of them like
the letter "E". At the upper end OF
his plastron, as the lower shell is named,
was fat piece OF bone fastened by
n hinge of muscle. He could draw his
head and front feet inside of this, shut
down the lid and be safe from any ordl-
nary attack. This one was Mr. because
he had red eyes-Mrs. It's eyes are
usually yellow This turtle Is fond OF
berries and tender shoots and lettuce and
celery and will always eat earth worms.
In the blackberry season you VIII some
times find It's head and front feet stained
with berry Juice The box turtle makes
a good pet II never bites and after 1t
becomes tame does not even take the
trouble to close It's lid. In fact If II is
well fed II becomes so fat that II can't
The box turtle Is half way between the
turtle and the tortoise. II lives on land
ike n tortoise, ana IS HCHTeu nearly 10
death n Il falls into the water and scrab-
bles along on the top like floating buoy.
Yet on Its hind feet It has traces Of the
webs which distinguish turtle from n
tortoise and In ranked with the turtles
The tortoise family. perhaps, begins to
branch Off from the turtles when GER
tein turtles like Muhlcnberg's turtle
which has blncknsh shell and n bright
orange patch on ench side Of its head.
learned to eat out of water. It's cousin,
The spotted turtle. which can he told by
It's yellow-spotted she'll can't do this
Then comes the wood-turtle. which not
only can eat out Of water, but hns learned
to wander around in the woods looking
for berries and Insects though 1t Is
nerfectly at home in the water. Tho
wood turtle has n ridged shell and
brick-red legs and neck. Beyond the
box turtle comes the true tortoise which
ranges from our gopher tortoise. which
digs so many burrows in the Southern
States up to the giant tortoise of the
Galapagos Islands One Of these in the
New York Geological Park weighs 310
pounds. is four feet long and over 400
years old.
One day in New Jersey had been off
snake hunting and had caught king
snake or "wamper" about five feet long.
On my way to the train met an old
negro who was Mortified to see me carry
ing the snake and begged me to throw
It away telling me that 1t was deadly
p'ison." We got to talking snakes. and
he told me of one monstrous one whose
track he had often found in the long
grass on his fathers farm when n boy.
1t was so big and heavy that 1t pressed
the grass down into hard, round path.
He had never. however. seen the snake
itself. The next week while hunting for
meadow larks nest in field of long
grass I found Just such n path as he
= H.NI 1.
found there feeding away on the grass
the terrible snake. It was n box-turtle.
When was n boy we used to cut the
initials &c. w. 1776.' on every box
turtle we found so If any boy finds a
turtle with these initials he must not
decide too hurriedly that he has dis
covered the pet turtle of the Father of
his Country