The Slice: Next time, better instigate a catch-and-release policy

When children are asked what ought to be in the newspaper, they often come up with the same suggestion.

“Stories about animals.”

OK. Here’s one from the 1960s.

“We were living in Browne’s Addition (a house on West Pacific) when my son (age 8) caught a Shetland pony,” wrote Alice Sidlow.

Now this was not a free range scenario. It was, well, Alice can tell it.

“When I called my husband at work, he said it was a sign that we are moving to the country.”

To continue. “It seems that a serviceman was going to haul this small horse in a towed car and it got loose. (Browne’s Addition was still home to some large estates, so it had room to run.) He told the kids whoever caught it could have it. Well, after the neighbor kids chased this frightened horse all over the neighborhood, my son ended up with it.”

Hey, Mom – look what I found.

“We boarded Firecracker for over a year before we found our farm in Glenrose. We moved there in 1965 and still live there today.”

The pony lived to be about 24 after an active life of appearing at fairs and whatnot. She is buried on the farm.

Now here’s an animal story from George Weisbarth up in Newport, Washington.

“Many years ago – 25 or so – a friend and I were fishing at Fishtrap Lake. Fishing was slow but the sun was high and there were many turtles sunning themselves on a log. With the brilliance of youth, we decided to glide our boat to the log and net some turtles. I brought some home to put in the slow running creek behind our property.

“Over the years we have had turtles laying eggs in our sandy yard, crossing our driveway and crossing our rural road that the creek runs under.”

George, of course, knows it was wrong to relocate those creatures years ago. But he thinks he might have atoned for that transgression by moving turtles off the road countless times since and keeping them from getting run over.

“I have commuted many of the turtles’ death sentences over the years.”

Today’s Slice question: In your estimation, what is the most memorable scene in “Ben-Hur”?