Playing Scrabble with Turtles

Rosemary Lombard has maintained a private turtle lab for nearly half a century, first in Bloomington Indiana, then in Chicago, then Milwaukee, later in the Bay Area, and now in Hillsboro, Oregon. To my knowledge, only she and I have ever played Scrabble with a turtle—in my case, an Eastern box turtle named Diode.

I've encountered many skeptics who have severe reservations about this claim. I've also met many more who are more than just skeptical; they've rejected these claims from the get-g...