The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1874-12-01
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How TURTLES LAY THEIR EGGs.-Tht
turtles begin laying on the 7th of May
The females generally como on the beact
at night. Their course upon the sand j.
marked by the trailing of their tails and
fippers. The trail from the water to q
point above high tide is as straight as Q
line, Approaching a certain spot, the
turtle makes gentle swervc to the north
and sounds the sand with her fippers
Satisfied of the desireableness Of the stu.
alton, she begins to dig hole. To dc
this her hind Aippers alone are used
Her work is remarkable, it not artistic
The hole is shaped ike the inside of O
large jug. Its neck is small, but its in.
terror is circular, and from IL to 20 OF
more inches in diameter. The sides are
smooth and rounded through the use ol
the iiippers. No workman in pottery
could turn out Job more true. Ere.
qucntly the turtle is dissatisfied with her
labor. Probably she finds the ground
undermined by ,hc bright.eyed sand.
crab that dance along the shore, In that
case she makes curve to the east and
marches directly to the water. emerging
at some other point and going through
the same performance, Sometimes she
digs four or five holes before she begins
to deposit he. eggs.
Her nest finished, the female turtle set
ties down to work. Up to this time she
invariably takes to water at the approach
OF a stranger After she begins to lay,
the presence Of an army would not
frighten her, A man could stand upon
her back, and she would keep her posi-.
tion until the last egg was dropped, DR..
Frank Fox. well.known hunter Of New
Smyrna, tells me that he once saw bear
stand behind turtle on the nest. Bruin
caught the eggs in alternate paws as they
irl', and devourcd them with u smack Of
the chops that could be heard at the dis
tancc OF 100 yards, Bears have been
known to watch turtles for hours, and
then tea- them to pieces bccausc they
showed no disposition to lay. The eggs
are deposited at depth Of from II to s
inches. They are not oval, but round
and nearly the size of hens egg. The
sholl is flexible, and white as snow. 1t
is as elastic as rubber. Dent an egg with
your thumb, and the indentation will last
for hours. Egg hunters always carry a
bag, in which they drop the eggs. ~
bag of eggs eau be thrown across horse,
the horse ridden at full gallop, and not
an egg broken.
10 filling their nests the females display
marvellous skill The eggs are deposited
10 layers so arranged tha there is not an
inch of room to spare. No human hand
could show such knowledge of packing
Beach.combe bers are repeatedly as'oni,hed
at the quantity Of eggs taken from i small
nest They say they have repeatedly
tried to replace them as they found them,
but in no instance have they succeeded 10
getting more than two.thirds OF them
back in the hole From - to 100 eggs
are found in each nest. The gcueral
average is l30 DR. Fox says he has
uncarthed 10 Last year, however, DR..
Wallace Of Turtle Mound discovered "a
hole containing 2l0 eggs, This i. proba.
bly, the largest nest ever found Oh the
Florida coast. When the lemale has
filled her nest she covers the hole with
moistened ,aua and packs it down with
her tlippers. No garden.roller could
make it more solid. The spot is then
sprinkle led with loose sand and the old
turtle returns to the sea The eggs hatch
within 81 days, The summer sun is