A turtle is rather an interesting animal to keep, although he will not do much in return. Even in summer they have a curious way of disappearing for weeks together, and in winter, of course, you see nothing of them. An ordinary mud turtle is often seen moving slowly along the roads after a rain. He can be carried home by turning him over on his back—but be careful to keep your fingers away from his snapping mouth. As a rule they can feed themselves, and they also have the happy knack of doing without food altogether for long periods, so that you need not be anxious.
Fish
Bowls of goldfish are not uncommon, but few people seem to care for fish of other kinds. And yet a little aquarium can be stocked for a small sum and is a most interesting possession. One small tank of young bream, for example, can be a perpetual and continually fresh delight. Let the tank have cloisters of rockwork and jungles of weed, so that hiding may be possible, and then watch the smaller fish at their frolics. Young trout are hardly less beautiful, and very easy to keep healthy, in spite of general opinion to the contrary. The important thing is to maintain a current of water through the tank. The old way was to carry the overflow down a pipe in the centre through its surface opening, but an improvement on this system is for the leakage to be at the bottom of the tank and the inflow at the top. Young perch are beautiful too,—and tench, and dace, and roach,—and all are hardy. Feeding them is very simple. The shop from which you buy the fish will keep you supplied with the proper food. The American catfish, with its curious antennæ or whiskers, and its gleaming eyes, set as by a jeweler, is more wonderful, and not a whit more difficult to keep. But to be amused by such unfamiliar neighbors as a tankful of fish there is no real need either to stray abroad or to spend any money. The ordinary minnow, which you can catch in any stream and pop into a jar, will serve to introduce you to a new world—a world of silent progressions, of incredible celerities, of amazing respirations.
Silkworms
Silkworms, if kept at all, ought to be taken seriously and used for their true purpose. That is to say, you really ought to wind their silk carefully. Few owners of silkworms in this country seem to trouble to do this. Silkworms' eggs can be bought of any naturalist, or some one who keeps silkworms will willingly give you some. The time is about the end of April. They are usually laid on scraps of paper, and these you put in shallow paper and cardboard trays covered with gauze, and place them in the room where the sun can reach them. As the worms hatch out you must move them—it is done best with a small paint brush—to another tray or trays and keep them supplied with fresh mulberry leaves or lettuce. The worms continue to grow for about a month, and then, when full-sized, they prepare to spin. You may know that this time is reached by their refusal to eat, and you must then make a little paper toilet, about two inches deep, for each worm, and drop it in. You have now nothing to do (except to watch the worms regularly) for some weeks, in which time the cocoon has been finished and the worm has become a chrysalis. When the chrysalis inside the cocoon rattles the time has come to wind the silk, or the moth will shortly emerge and eat it. The outside of the cocoon is useless and can be removed by placing the cocoon in warm water. Once that is out of the way, the silk can be wound on a card. The moth soon afterward appears and, after growing to its full size, lays its eggs—some two hundred—and dies. It must be remembered that with silkworms a little practical demonstration from any one who has kept them is worth much more than many pages of hints. One thing is of the highest importance, and that is constant attention. Silkworms must never be neglected.
Other Caterpillars
Silkworms are more useful but not more interesting than many other caterpillars which can be hatched from eggs. The Privet Hawk Moth, for example, is very easily bred, and a very beautiful creature it is when in full plumage. But for information on this subject you must go to more scientific books.
Pigeons
Pigeons are not exactly pets, for they rarely do more than come to you for their food, just as chickens do, but they are beautiful creatures and no country roof is quite complete without them, and a dove-cot is a very pretty and homely old-fashioned object. Usually, however, the birds are given a portion of a loft. Whatever the nature of their home, it must have separate compartments for each pair of pigeons and must be warm. If a loft is used there should be sand or gravel on the floor, with a little lime to assist the formation of the shells of the pigeons' eggs. The place should be kept clean, and you must guard against rats and cats. Pigeons eat peas and pigeons'-beans and most kinds of grain. If they fly loose they will find out other food, such as green meat, for themselves. But if you keep them at home you ought to give them some. They should have a dish of water in a regular place. New pigeons should be shut up by wiring in their house for a fortnight before you give them their liberty, or they will fly away. They do not care for hay or straw in their boxes, but will make a nest in their own way when they need one. Pigeons are of many kinds, the commonest of which is perhaps the Runt, and the prettiest a white Fantail. Any one who takes up pigeons except merely for the pleasure of owning one or two should read up the subject carefully.