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June 19, 1922. Washington, D.C. "Shelly & Jezebel." And that's all they wrote. National Photo Company Collection glass negative. View full size.
... but when I was quite small I had a tiny turtle that I named "Turdy". I didn't realize until much later why my older sister sniggered everytime I called it by that name. Obviously, "Shelly" is a much more suitable name! Fun photo.
I have a turtle named Toby....I think it's a great name!
Cat: "Pretty good, huh?"
Turtle: "Blecchh! I don't see how you can eat this stuff! Give me some nice fat juicy grubworms any day!"
A friend also has a turtle named Shelly. When he was a child (about 50 years ago) he and a chum each chose a small turtle from a pet store and named it Shelly. After a few years, he noticed he still had Shelly whereas his friend's turtle had died. He eventually became a biologist and discovered that Shelly was some sort of rare tortoise that typically lives 100 years or more.
He still has Shelly, 50 years on, and has put in his will that his niece is to take care of Shelly upon his demise.
I've always found that to be a fabulous story.
Mice would get along better with cats, too, if they lived in a portable fortress and had bone-snapping beaks.
When I was a kid I wagged my finger in front of a friend's box turtle. He gave me a good nip, thinking I was a juicy worm. If Jezebel ever put her nose too close to Shelly, she probably learned some respect for turtle power.
How can you NOT name a turtle Shelly?
So cool - why can't we humans get along like that?
It's possible that Shelly is still with us. Jezebel, unfortunately, has most likely burned through all of her nine lives.
How long before this shows up on I Can Has Cheezburger with a pithy caption?
I wonder if Shelly is still around, as box turtles can live to be 100 (although often much less than that in captivity, unfortunately).
Is "Shelly" the turtle equivalent of "Spot" or "Whiskers"?
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