The Tortoise

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 169, 13 April 1935, Page 23

The Tortoise

This week we shall talk about a very small, but quite useful and knowing pet, the tortoise. Tortoises and turtles are really the same, ouly the tortoise lives on land and the turtle in water. Some people think that to have a tortoise loose in the garden means that he will cat the flowers or the garden produce. He won't touch either, but he will eat up a lot of troublesome insects and slugs. During the summer he likes lettuce, cabbage, dandelion leaves, sunflower seeds, apples, and, as. a great treat, a j-u-i-c-y strawberry. A little bread and milk is also good for him. In the winter take him indoors to a. warm room, and-give him bread and milk when he comes out for a stroll. But tortoises do not eat beetles as many people think they do. A Tortoise Parlour Trick One lady had a tortoise that used to come and sit at her feet by the fire, and had a trick of climbing up on to a hassock 1 If you rub your tortoise's shell his head will quickly pop out, and if yon want to please him, rub under his neck, as you would a cat. He will take as much of this fondling as you like. Tortoises have very keen sight and an equally keen sense of hearing. When they are pleased some of them make a low, curious noise, something like the mewing of a cat. The larger tortoises have been known to live over

three hundred years, and to weigh five hundred and fifty pounds. They Will Answer a Call These little pets are not so stupid as some people think, and they soon get to know those who tend them, so that they will come at a well-known call. They are the least troublesome of any pets and are very beautiful to look at. Yes, you who have gardens might well be advised to get one of the small"er tortoises and to watch how cleverly it eats, say, a piece of lettuce. If it is nice and fresh your pet will eat it up in quick jabs, but if. on the other hand, the lettuce is a little flabby, he will hold it down with one of his feet and tear it to shreds, eating only the best part. Do you know how the tortoise got his name? It comes from the old French word “tortis,” meaning twist-ed, and was first applied to this little animal on account of his curiously bent forelegs. I have received some, photographs of pets which, unfortunately, have not -been clear enough to print. They must be very, very bright in order to conic out well in a newspaper. Before I write the next article I hope to have a lot of letters from you telling me about your pets and asking me questions. questions.—KlWl.