More about turtles

An article in today's New York Times about adopting a turtle. Interesting comments section. Common themes seem to be: turtles and tortoises live so long that they outlive their owners, small turtles grow to the size of dinner plates, turtles are reptiles not amphibians, whether or not pet turtles are fond of human beings, and adopt your turtles from a shelter rather than buying them from a pet store, because as it turns out, there are plenty of people looking to get rid of them because you are not supposed to put them back into the wild. I doubt our animal shelters here in Tennessee will give out turtles because I believe it to be illegal to keep a turtle as a pet -- it varies from state to state. Here is a link to a turtle adoption agency (they are looking for homes for unwanted pet turtles.)

In the late 60s/early 70s, little turtles were commonly sold in stores, stores like Kmart. My grandmother bought me two little turtles and an aquarium. They were the diameter of a tangerine. I was way too young to look after a pet, and I liked to take Bellybutton and Spot out and play with them, then just walk away. So they were always "escaping." Then the whole family would search, and they'd be found behind the refrigerator or under the ledge of the pantry.

One day my Mom told me we were going to visit our cousins, and get Bellybutton and Spot. I was very suspicious. Then we let them go in a creek. Turns out, the fact that turtles can carry salmonella had become a hot news item and parents were encouraged to get rid of their kids' turtles. Stores stopped selling them. Letting turtles go back into the wild is illegal now, because turtles that don't belong to an area breed and edge out species that do belong, so I don't know whether setting them free was considered the appropriate method for getting rid of them back then or not.

Meanwhile, here are some turtle facts: all turtles, including tortoises, are considered turtles. Turtles are reptiles, not amphibians, and their eggs are laid on land. Most turtle species are adapted for living in water, and tortoises are the subset who are not and only go into the water to drink or bathe.

The turtles I met at the Hickory Aquarium seemed friendlier than my lizards. The comments section under the New York Times article referenced above is full of stories of turtles liking people. One person mentions that his turtle's favorite musical genres are folk and classical.

Loose Ends

The polls have closed. On the dreams issue, 6 voters do not remember their dreams. That leaves a tie between anxiety dreams/ one damn thing after another, and some other way. On the terrorist issue, "I feel threatened by Islamic terrorists" was solidly trounced, 72% to 27%. Remember, if you give in to fear, then the terrorists have won! Thanks, though; you have confirmed my suspicion that more of my friends live in Ron Paul's America than Tom Tancredo's.

To participate in another poll (Who is more famous, Stephen Jay Gould or Michael Jackson?), see pictures of my lizards, and take the "What is my daemon" quiz, go to Cindi and Mary Beth's Holistic Enneagram Agency. We have 17 posts already!

There is an interesting discussion going on in the comments for the Republicans have better mental health post: Is mental health defined by being able to sincerely describe oneself as happy, and also not be driving other people around you crazy, or do you also have to be a productive member of society?

Also, a friend of mine went to a party last night and talked to people about dreams. He reports that "it was uniformly tolerated and in most cases enthusiastically embraced." He did "follow Beje's 3 sentence rule pretty carefully though." Good work, Beje.

Answer to the Tortoise Question

The poll has closed; 3 voted yes and 2 voted no on the question of whether tortoises swim.

The correct answer, Joseph's answer, is 'no.' So the "crowd" was wrong on this one (although it was essentially a tie.)

Joseph told me that tortoises do not swim, and that people find box turtles and throw them into Lake Hickory to save them and they sink like rocks and drown. Too heavy. Also, turtles have flipperlike feet and tortoises have dry, stumpier feet.

To confuse matters, some tortoises are able to swim -- but not most. Most drown.

A tank full of friendly turtles

Today my Mom, Dad and I visited the Catawba Science Center's aquarium. They had a large display of North Carolina turtles. All the turtles had been donated and were former pets, and they were very friendly and we were encouraged to touch them. Joseph, the aquarium employee, showed us that the males had long fingers and fingernails and the females' fingers were short. He said he regretted that there were only two females in the tank and lots of males, because the females got too much attention.

I was able to ask him two turtle questions I'd been wondering about.

1) Are turtles' shells sensitive or not? I recently watched the movie About a Son, essentially a glorified interview with Kurt Cobain. Cobain (enneagram 5w4) said that people thought that turtles' shells were numb but actually they were sensitive. I asked Joseph, who told me that they are numb. (I mention Cobain's enneagram type because his was a very 5w4 comment.)

2) Can tortoises swim?

Here is your chance to vote. Don't look it up. Just guess. When five people have voted I will reveal Joseph's answer.