The Cold Blooded News The Newsletter of the Colorado Herpetological Society Volume 28, Number 9;   September, 2001

Myrtle Turns Turtle

Myrtle the turtle has risen from the dead. Two weeks after being solemnly put to rest, she clawed her way out of her grave.

"We were in total shock. My heart was pounding," said Caz Hughes, owner of the Katikati Childcare Centre, which has been 6-year old Myrtle's home since she was a baby.

Calamity struck when the popular pet shattered the glass around a heater in her tank. She was found lying stiff, eyes shut, neck stretched and one leg sticking out behind her. Revival efforts were unsuccessful and a devastated staff eventually broke the news to the children that red-eared Myrtle had died. A burial service was held and she was carefully laid in a paper-lined grave in the back garden, marked by a cross. Life went on and two tiny new turtles, Jack & Jill, took up residence in the aquarium.

But a fortnight later, one of the children announced that Myrtle was "coming back out of the ground now". The 4-year-old would not be dissuaded, so the centre's mini Olympics were interrupted while everyone went to look.

Sure enough, the earth was moving, a head and foot emerged and there was Myrtle. After a wash, the turtle seemed fine, apart from a swollen back leg, which since had to be amputated. It was cut by the broken glass in the tank and became badly infected underground.

Caz Hughes has nursed Myrtle at home while her stitched wound heals. Yesterday, despite her missing limb, the resurrected turtle was back in the swim at the center.

Bemused veterinarians Michelle Beard and John Knowles thought an electric shock from the broken heating element may have shocked Myrtle unconscious and her closed down body had gone into a dormant state. Heavy rain the night before her reappearance could have revived her. "We'll never know exactly, but it's certainly bizarre," said Michelle Beard.

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