I saw the inert Painted Turtle shell from the road, and because the reptile remained in its spot when I approached its resting place on the flat stones of the millpond dam, I knew the poor critter was dead. Why would have to remain a mystery, but as I pondered its end, I wondered what I should do with the corpse. As I contemplated nudging the shell and its dried remains back into the water, I noticed the approach of a very lively Great Spangled Fritillary butterfly. These beauties have been exceedingly active for a couple of weeks now, and this one was probably searching out nectar sources in the nearby Pickerel Weed blooms. Before it settled into drinking, the GSF did something unexpected: it landed on the turtle shell. With its flexible and retractable proboscis, the butterfly was clearly sampling the shell—but for what? My guess was salt. Lepidopterans will sometimes land on sweaty people to imbibe necessary sodium, and I suspect the GSF was looking for a taste of salt on the turtle shell. Better to leave the unfortunate reptile in place. Better it should, in death, prove useful.