When I was a small boy, I was quite badly bitten by my best friend’s pet tortoise 
, and it left me with a phobia of anything that lives in a shell. Some things that happen to us in childhood can stay with us for all of our lives, and significantly influence our adult personality and behaviour. In some instances of childhood trauma, it seems we can somehow block the incident from our conscious memory, but it stays buried deep in our psyche, causing us no end of problems in later life. I often wonder what might have happened to me when I was a child, that I can’t remember. 
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Strange tortoise if it had teeth! 
Gosh that’s awful Harbal … I can’t imagine how terrifying it must be if you bump into a snail whilst out in the garden. I suppose much like the tortoise you have to out run it … if you can, if you have the speed. If not when those jaws snap it must be worse than decapitation.
I’m sorry … I’ll start again in case that lacked sufficient sympathy …
As an adult do you carry a lettuce leaf about with you as a talisman or wait till they hibernate before you feel safe.
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It probably mauled him with it’s gums.
Mind you …fair dues … he didn’t say which bit of him was mauled.
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Harbal, how do you feel about Pasties now?
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Er…er… Harbal, I live in a shell 
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I hate to think! 
It had very sharp gums, Mags.
Well I knew it was an agressive tortoise, but I let down my guard and simply wasn’t quick enough when it struck.
They make me anxious, spitty.
And I bet you’re a lot quicker than a tortoise. 
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By Gum, has it really! 
Yep, with teeth too 
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Harbal are you sure … little protuberances stick out of both ends with a tortoise.
I was definitely bitten by the end with a mouth, Morti. Not that I’d admit it being otherwise.
Read it and had to do some research…
evidence…
Thinks… oh poor Harbie…maybe it’s because he is like a Cat?..
Will do some more research… 
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Now that’s interesting … most folk keep a dog to deter cats from their garden …this could start a new craze.
This is a true story .
When my son was little he bought one of those little terrapins ( we lived in the tropics ) we put it in the fish tank and fed it fish food and salad . Alas it developed a horrible problem where it’s eyes swelled up and the lids closed it was blind .This is called pop eye .
I consulted the vet who said it was lack of Vit A and to give it cod liver oil .
How do you give a tiny terrapin cod liver oil .it retracted it’s head in its shell and would not open its mouth ? . However we worked out a system .You need assistants
First arm yourself with a Seven seas cod liver oil capsule pieced at one end with a pin, hold gently .
take hold of terrapin gently too . Prod it with the pin ( blunt end of course ) eventually it gets so cross it puts its head out and snaps . At this very moment squeeze cod liver oil capsule and squirt contents into terrapins mouth .coordination is essential. Repeat twice daily .
And it works ! After a few days the eyes opened and the swelling disappeared .
The newly sighted reptile then killed and ate all the goldfish !
Luckily we heard a nearby lake was being restocked with thousands of fish fry .
The pet now nicknamed Jaws was taken there and swam away into the sunset without a backward glance .
I remembered this because after he recovered far from being grateful he tried to bite everyone .
Sorry Harbel continue 
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It’s fine, Muddy, I enjoyed the story.
Tortoises and members converge, when they decide to go into Hibernation. 
