NZ Press: Myrtle turns turtle

Subject:

Comments:
: NEW ZEALAND HERALD (Auckland) 05 October 00 Myrtle turns turtle (Rosaleen Macbrayne) : Photo: Four-year-old Brooke Robins is thrilled to have Myrtle the turtle back. Herald Picture / Nicola Topping : 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 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 and 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 has 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, and has fed her lots of beef schnitzel - her favourite meal. : Yesterday, despite her missing limb, the resurrected reptile was back in the swim at the centre. : Bemused veterinarians Michelle Beard and John Knowles thought an electric shock from the broken heater may have knocked Myrtle unconscious and her closed-down body had then have 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.

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL: