Evening star., 1947-09-01
This and That
By Charles E. Trace1DeH.
''BENJ. FRANKLIN STATION.


you will no doubt recall the letter I sent
you some time ago about our pet Cumberland
turtle, Myrtle, who suddenly lost the use of her
hind legs and could only drag herself along
with great difficulty on her front legs.
you advised me to try sunshine, lettuce,
beef liver, multivitamin capsules and folio acid
tablets. We've been putting Myrtle out in the
sun for an hour or two daily.
apparently her attitude towards lettuce Is
the same as mine towards spinach-Shell have
none of it.
"She takes liver but doesn't care for it par
ticularly; her preference is lean, tender beef,
which she gobbles up with great gusto. Her
second choice is the yolk OF hard boiled eggs,
and she also seems to enjoy the regular turtle
food, consisting of delicious CD concoction
of ant eggs and dried flies, according to the
label on the box.
"But recently we discovered that she prizes
live worms above everything else. Since we
live in an apartment in town, we had to ask
some friends who live in the suburbs to emulate
the robins and obtain some worms for Myrtle.
tits sight to see the little turtle arch her
neck and pounce on a long, Wr1ggllng worm
and somehow induce it to get into her tummy.
X X
'Its impossible to get her to take capsules
or tablets, so the vitamins you mentioned were
out. However, found at the drugstore vita
minis in liquid FORM which we have been put
ting on the tiny slivers of beef we feed Myrtle
LAS you know, turtles can only swallow their
food in water, so when she dunks her meat,
much of the liquid vitamin floats off in fatty
globules and Myrtles face becomes covered
with a greasy film and she smells cod-llver-
oilish for several hours afterwards However,
she does get in some of the vitamins, never
theless.
1--WE also began massaging her hind legs
We'd put her crosSwiSe in the palm OF one
hand, and coax one of her hind legs out,
rubbing and massagfng it gently. After awhile,
she'd deliberately put out her other leg to be
rubbed and massaged likewise, turning her
head to look at us from time to time or closing
her eyes in contentment.
1--WE don't know whether it was the sunshine,
the vitamins the worms or the massaging, or
a combination of any or all of them, but
couple of weeks ago Myrtle began to make the
first efforts to use her hind legs again
VERY feebly, hardly noticeable at first, her
efforts improved, and now she can crawl about
IS to 80 per cent of normal
mo matter where We put her down, she i'm
mediately heads for the bath room, where
there is warm spot on the floor, at place
where hot water pipe lies close to the tile,
and she loves to spread out and relax on that
hot spot.
"At the rate she's improving, we are hoping
that she'll be perfectly normal in another week
or two I don't know who is more delighted
Myrtle or We Sincerely yours, L. r.
The humble fishin' worm is good food for
fish and turtles as well as birds.
Its role in sweetening the soil IS regarded
by experts as making it one of mans chief aids.
without the flshin' worms by their millions,
we would have nothing but sour acid soil, un1lt
to grow most crops in
Goldfish in pools never permit an earth
worm to escape from the water, once 1t un-
warily falls in
one fish will get hold of the head and
another the tail, and the two will put on tug
of war with the poor worm as the rope.
But for inclusion in the menu OF pet fishes
and turtles. the smallest size-not the large
ones-should be pulled into short pieces.
Baby birds find these the best of food, along
with insects. Any one bringing up bird "by
hand" should see to it that the youngster Is
offered tiny bits of worm from time to time.
In world in turmoil, the angleworm still
does business at the old stand-and it is
mighty good thing for the rest OF US that ne
does.