Evening star., 1947-07-11
This; and / That: t:
BY Charles +. Trace1pell

Turtles, terrapins. tortoses. call them what
one will. are interesting creatures.
Many persons keep them, some inclining to
outdoor pens.
One Georgetown family, with a walled gar
den, has had the same old turtle for IL years.
In that time, she has produced some half a
dozen children, all of whom live with her
in the walled garden.
Small turtles, including the popular Cumber-
land variety. need plenty of sunshine and
exercise, especially movement for their claws.
Earth and rocky formations suit them
exactly, but these are what they most often
lack in captivity.
Sunshine Is necessity, but here again they
seldom get it, being confined too often in
small bowls without sun or earth or rocks.
Ali these things make q turtle" as they
are popularly called. feel at home.
They also tend to keep it from becoming
old before It's time, with 4 sort OF paralysis
IN the hind legs.
This type of paralysis is often suffered by
cats and dogs. in many instances being due
to = toxemia, the result OF 4 lack of proper
foods, fresh raw meat, enough exercise and
outdoor life in general.
All these creatures, including the turtles in
their hard shells, suffer from what so many
of us in civilization suffer from-a lack of
nature in our lives.
We need nature cure" if people ever did,
yet We find 1t increasingly difficult to get it.
Natural living is difficult when ones muscles
do not cali for exercise, ones lungs are simply
not used to fresh air, and the foods we cat
tend to be devitalized (for longer keeping)
and have not been grown properly to begin
with.
correspondent wants to know what to do
about his ailing turtle.
"Our friends think we are crazy" he writes,
ito have become 50 attached to such q little
creature. but then they don't know Myrtle
the Turtle"
This one is six years DID, he says. and re-
Gently got SO she could stretch her hind legs
but could not crawl upon them.
She eats, but that is about all.
What should they do?
Scraped beef is good.
Scraped liver is even better.
The contents of multi-vitamin capsules would
be excellent, we would think.
Cod liver oil might be tried.
Vitamin A is a great force It Is good for
man or beast and for variety OF reasons.
Experiments with white rats show those
which get from four to five times the daily
minimum. so-called, live longer. become ma
ture Quicker and hold their health longer.
As an extreme measure the tiny folio acid
tablets might be tried. Half Of one Of these
a day might show results In from two to five
days. and If they old not they should be dis
continued
Real play space with plenty OF sunshine
Ibut opportunity to so into the shade at wilD
with rocks and mud and also sand-these
should help revitalize sick turtles.
Tiny bits OF lettuce might be tried
All Of these aids, physical and material, are
intended to give the creature q real nature
cure For the animal creatures, there cannot
be much Of any other cure. All man-made
aids must work toward nature, which does the
real curing.
We know how cats seek grass. how both
dogs and cats refuse to eat when really i'll
Probably 1t is the same with the small turtles
kept rs pets. What they do, instinctively, is
what Is best for them With us larger and
more complex creatures. instinct is often 4
fake guide. We no longer can depend upon
it. Instinct may play US false, whereas mind will
be of aid. At times even intelligence leads one
astray
With the dumb creatures, so-called, we find
that mans mind may help them II In 80 doing
IT works with their instincts. Their instincts,
unlike ours, are to be trusted.