In another edition of What’s Up, Doc? We introduced Miss Turtle, our painted turtle who now lives in one of the aquariums inside the store. Since her introduction Miss Turtle has proven herself to be quite a character. We’ve cut down on the amount of lamb Miss Turtle gets (because it’s not good for her) and have found replacement morsels she loves just as much — canned crickets!

Miss Turtle continually shows off to anyone who looks her way hoping to get another delicious cricket. One cannot pass by without her flailing her arms about, bobbing furiously in the water, trying to grab all the attention. Yes, Miss Turtle loves attention — but we’ve found something she loves more — herself!

I placed a flat stepping stone turtle in the bottom of her aquarium thinking it was a fun piece of décor for her. This plastic turtle is set with fake jewels and little mirror triangles that are barely noticeable in the aquarium. At first Miss Turtle burrowed underneath the decorative piece or simply ignored it. Then one day we noticed Miss Turtle hovering quietly and very still with her head stretched way out of her shell seemingly in a daze right over her plastic turtle stepping stone. I immediately thought she was sick and rushed to the aquarium only to find that Miss Turtle was gazing at the reflection of her own face in one of the tiny triangle mirrors. It was obvious that Miss Turtle had found herself!

It became difficult to get Miss Turtle’s attention after her major discovery. Every time we passed by her tank she was in that same, awestruck position with her head down, her nose sometimes pressed against the mirror, almost like she was planting a kiss. The only thing that would pull her away from her own reflection was when I flashed the red can of crickets her way. Although Miss Turtle’s escapades were humorous I was beginning to feel a bit neglected by the old girl.

We contemplated why she suddenly became so hypnotized and decided it must be because Miss Turtle thought her reflection was that of another turtle and was in need of a friend. As luck would have it, one of our customers had a ready-made friend for our girl — another turtle that I think is a slider turtle. The new turtle is more than twice Miss Turtle’s size but not as ready to eat from our hands as her spoiled roommate. We promptly named her Myrtle Turtle.

Miss Turtle was in her “day spa” lazily absorbing the sunshine when we introduced her to Myrtle. It took all of a single second for Miss Turtle to react. She craned her head out of her shell and cocked it sideways to check out the new turtle. Excitedly she waved an arm. Myrtle was bored with it all but Miss Turtle was off into new discovery land. We knew for sure that this was exactly what Miss Turtle needed.

Then the moment passed. The two gals accepted each other as roommates and went their own way. Within an hour Miss Turtle was once again back to her state of suspended animation hovering over the plastic turtle with her nose touching what had become her favorite mirrored triangle while Myrtle rested on top of the rock.

If I could understand turtle I imagine I’d hear Miss Turtle sing, “O Lord, it’s hard to be humble when you’re perfect in every way. I can’t wait to look in the mirror. I get better looking each day.”