Clay flicks, age 7, of Montgomery, Alabama, for his question:

Can turtles hear?

Old slowpoke has two bright eyes in his wrinkled face. They see the things around him quite clearly, especially the thins wearing orange and reddish colors. He also has a nose to sniff the smells he likes and dislikes, and a tongue to taste the foods he likes and dislikes. Rut there are no ears fixed onto the sides of his wrinkled head. For this reason, we might think that a turtle must be stone deaf.

This might be true. However, if you own a pet turtle, you know that he hears a few things. He may hear your footsteps or taken you tap on his box or his shell. Experts tell us that he knows about these sounds from the vibrations they make in such things as the solid ground. Experts also tell us that, though a turtle has no outer ears, he does have workable inner ears inside his head. But so far, nobody has proved that his inner ears can hear the sounds that come through the air. He seems to depend on the vibrations that sounds make in solid substances.