Evening star., 1948-04-12
This and That
By Charles E. TraceDeU
SIXTEENTH STREET,

"Dear Sir:
There is a turtle, or tortoise, In our yard.
It has been seen every year now for at least
IS years and grows larger year oy year.
Il am wondering II there is anything can
put out for this creature. We feed the birds,
and get great deal Of pleasure out OF them.
We see that water Is available, and even Try
to Ak a dust bath for them.
"Stin we never have given the turtle q
thought On seeing him this time, suddenly
ielt contrite. Here we had stuffed the greedy
birds day in and day out, but had never done
anything for the turtle.
"If there is any real turtle food for him
would like to know about 1t. only see MN
once in while, but I am hoping to further
our acquaintance, you see.
with best wishes,
Yours truly. E De $. l."
Yard tortoises are best left to their own
devices.
They may take bit of food, now and then.
such as lettuce and bread, but in the main tney
need no attention.
It is a good thing to let them alone, in
this respect. Something else may be done for
them. however. This is the bath. A sunken
bird BATH not more than two inches deep, Is
lust the thing for them. They Will find 1t, II
one is already present Of course, but so many
people have baths on pedestals that 1t may be
necessary to think Of the humble tortoise.
cannot accomplish. They cannot run a rapid
race. as the old fable tells us. They are url-
able to climb trees, to get away from pur-
suers Equally, they cannot scale the pedestal
bird bath
So their ablutions, of which they are very
fond, are rather nebulous unless they come
across small puddle, or a sunken bird patn
The bath made of q large saucer, either
sunk in the ground, or placed on the earth, is
made to order for the box tortoise.
He goes for it every time, and sinks into
1t with sigh, we swear. One afternoon we had
the pleasure of watching the entire BATH The
turtle had waddled across the grass in the
heat.
He made straight for the sunken BATH sur
rounded by a border of small stones around
which ageratum had been planted.
He slid across the stones, and eased him
self into the water.
That long neck and serpent head stuck out,
but the rest of him was under. He seemed TO
look around to see If any one were watching
him. Occasionally he would move around.
few birds hoped over, notably one song SPAR
row, but when they saw him already in the
BATH they departed without disputing 1t with
him.
10 minutes.
He lifted himself over the edge, and the
water flowed of his back, and he was soon
dry. The last we saw Of him, he was climbing
through the fence, on his strange wandertngs.
4 4
There is another thing the home owner can
do for the tortoise that honors his yard now
and then
This is to watch out for him in the road,
and lift him back to safety on some ones
lawn.
The tortoise has no way Of knowing, of
course that the roadway is any different from
the moved yard.
His rate Of speed is too slow for modern
traficl
Motorists have no pity on him. He is just
something in the way, evidently. But his
smashing is not pretty sight.
IL the person interested in the fauna of the
backyard will lift every such wanderer, and
place him out Of harms way, he will have
done q good deed, and given the turtle another
lease on life. He may feel sure that the am-
phibian really has little plan, in his wander
ings. and that to wander one way Is just about
IS good Is to 60 another.
These oddities of nature have come into re-
newed interest In recent years, since they re-
semble small tanks. and Of course are am
phibians. Our amphibian warfare Is based
solidly On nature.