Outdoor Visits  by Edith M. Patch

Box Turtle

Box Turtle was a good name for him. He could keep his shell open or shut, somewhat like a box.

When he was scared he shut his shell and that was one way to hide.

There was a hinge in his under shell. The front end could move up to the front of his top shell. And the back end could move up to the back of his top shell. So his head and his tail and his four legs were all inside his shut shell.

The top shell was brown with yellow spots on it. The under shell was almost black and its yellow spots were bigger.

Box Turtle did not live in the water. He liked to walk on land.

When he walked, his shell was open so he could move his legs.

He put out his head and looked with his bright red eyes.

When Box Turtle was hungry he went to hunt for his food. He had many pleasant picnics.

He often caught young insects that had no wings and could not fly away. They were good meat for his dinner.

This turtle liked sweet food very much. But his head was too big to put into flowers. He could not drink nectar like a bee or a butterfly or a hummingbird.

Box Turtle had another way to get nectar. When he found some good clover blossoms he ate them. That was the way he could get the nectar that was inside the flower.

Don and Nan liked sweet food, too. When the blackberries were ripe they both went to pick some.

While they were near the bushes they saw Box Turtle. He picked berries that were near the ground. Some juice ran out of his mouth and changed the color of his face.

Nan asked, "Shall we leave all the low berries for the turtle?"

"Yes," said Don. "We will pick the berries that are too high for him to reach. We can leave the others for him. Then he can have some fun, too."

Box Turtle ate and ate and grew so fat he could not shut his shell!