Cool animals - Turtles and Butterflies

Turtle as pets

Turtles, particularly small terrestrial and freshwater turtles, are commonly kept as pets. Among the most popular are Russian Tortoises, Spur-thighed Tortoises, and Red-eared sliders (or terrapin).


In the United States, due to the ease of contracting salmonella through casual contact with turtles, the FDA established a regulation in 1975 to discontinue the sale of turtles under 4 inches. It is illegal in every state in the U.S. for anyone to sell any turtles under 4 inches long. Many stores and flea markets still sell small turtles due to a loophole in the FDA regulation which allows turtles under 4 inches to be sold for “educational” purposes.
Some states have other laws and regulations regarding possession of Red-eared Sliders (abbreviated as “RES”) as pets because they are looked upon as invasive species or pests where they are not native but have been introduced through the pet trade. As of July 1, 2007 it is illegal in Florida to sell any wild type RES. Unusual color varieties such as albino and pastel RES, which are derived from captive breeding, are still allowed for sale.

No, you are completely right: this is black and white pic. Saturation went to 0 and it’s black as night and white as day. Oh, you are wondering what’s that butterfly doing there? Well, it’s not on the pic, it’s on your monitor. Try to scare it away, shout a bit and wave a hand.

Art

Artistic depictions of butterflies have been used in many cultures including Egyptian hieroglyphs 3500 years ago. Today, butterflies are widely used in various objects of art, and have inspired the “butterfly fairy” as an art and fictional character.

Symbolism

According to the “Butterflies” chapter in Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things, by Lafcadio Hearn, a butterfly is seen as the personification of a person’s soul; whether they be living, dying, or already dead. One Japanese superstition says that if a butterfly enters your guestroom and perches behind the bamboo screen, the person whom you most love is coming to see you. However, large numbers of butterflies are viewed as bad omens. When Taira no Masakado was secretly preparing for his famous revolt, there appeared in Kyoto so vast a swarm of butterflies that the people were frightened — -thinking the apparition to be a portent of coming evil.

In Chinese culture two butterflies flying together are a symbol of love. Also a famous Chinese folk story called Butterfly Lovers. The Taoist philosopher Zhuangzi once had a dream of being a butterfly flying without care about humanity, however when he woke up and realised it was just a dream, he thought to himself “Was I before a man who dreamt about being a butterfly, or am I now a butterfly who dreams about being a man?”
In some old cultures, butterflies also symbolize rebirth into a new life after being inside a cocoon for a period of time.
Some people say that when a butterfly lands on you it means good luck.
However, in Devonshire, people would traditionally rush around to kill the first butterfly of the year that they see, or else face a year of bad luck.
The idiom “butterflies in the stomach” is used to describe a state of nervousness.