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Tortoises
Name: Linda T
Status: other
Age: 50s
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: 2001340
Question:
I have been curious for a long time about
tortoises. they live such a long long time, do they have any fun? I am
really interested and concerned about their hourly daily lives, not just
their eating and mating. I watch a lot of nature shows on TV, but have
never seen anything on this matter. I feel sorry for them living so long
IF they have no fun or play somehow, and if they do, what do they do for
fun? I would really like to know!
I'm 56 years old, but have the interest of a child in nature, so I hope
someone can answer this question for me, or tell me where to look to find
some info on that part of their lives. Thank you!
Replies:
Hi Linda!
I am no zoologist so I really cannot answer your question, if you look
down at Internet there are many sites about turtles and tortoises.
There are also books written for scientists devoted to their study
and observation.
If they have fun? It will depend ...What is fun for a turtle?
I know that they like to stay at the sun , walking slowly and looking
around, they enjoy going to lakes and ponds in groups and swimming
for hours, and of course they enjoy mating.
By other hand many tortoise species were (and are) killed by man
for their meat and shells, so many were killed that some species
are almost extinct. So they must fight for their life too. That is no fun,
but it takes their time.
And congrats for being curious. It does not matter the age, one
is young if he(she) feels young. Like the turtles.
Thanks for asking NEWTON!
Mabel
(Dr. Mabel Rodrigues)
When I have been diving in the tropics I have watched them for hours and
they seem to have quite a nice time lumbering through the coraled
waters...seem to have a lot more fun than most of us.
Peter Faletra Ph.D.
Assistant Director
Science Education
Office of Science
Department of Energy
I do not think this is a question we can answer. It seems pretty clear that
among animals more similar to us, i.e. mammals like apes, dogs, cats,
otters, etc., play is part of their lives, but whether or not it is "fun" in
the same sense we experience we probably will never know. The farther we get
from ourselves in structure and function of the brain the harder it is to
know these things. We need to NOT think of other animals in human terms -
its hard enough to understand the experiences of our fellow humans!
J. Elliott
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Update: June 2012
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