The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1874-09-09

heard the smacking of Bruins chops Will
sorrowful faces, and never again dropped
coat upon a turtles nest.
Millions of eggs are destroyed every year
Coons and opossums train in the wake of the
! bear, and scour the beach. Opossums have
been caught so stuffed with eggs that they
could hardly walk. When settler lives neal
the beach, his hogs fatten themselves upor
the nests. Mankind comes in for the smalles
share. Dr. Wallace gathered 5000 eggs last
year before the season was half over. o.
course he had more than his family could eat
One night his mules were without corn. He
dumped a peck of turtle eggs in their manger
The beasts seemed to like them better thar
grain. After that the Doctor fed them eggs
once day throughout the Summer, and the
animals became fat as butter. Soon after
ward his dog developed a taste for them, and
between the dog, mules, and family, the
Doctor had his hands full Co keep up the up
ply.
The eggs can be kept from five to six weeks
They are used for all cooking purposes, and
are said to be more nutritious than hens
eggs. For pies, custards, and similar delca-
scies, they are all that can be desired. Fried
boiled, scrambled, or knocked into an omlet,
they are savory and palatable. No effort has
ever been made to ship them north, where
they would undoubtedly be appreciated.
Hundreds of turtles are caught ON the beach
by moonlight. They cannot walk quite so
fast as a man. 1t requires peculiar skill to
handle them. They are seized by the shell
above the hind fipper and turned on their
backs as quick as an old Californian would
turn fiapjack. There is knack about it
that is not easily acquired. An expert has a
quick motion. He is as supple as a hickory
saplng. If the turtle is large, he throws him
self over with it, thus turning a complete
sommcrsault. If the monster is not thrown
in the twinkling of an eye, it raises itself to
pursuer flat on the sand. A beachcomber
weighing no more than one hundred pounds
can pitch over a three hundred FOUNDER appar-
emily with the greatest ease. Strangers are
advised not to experiment with the logger
heads, us they are wicked when annoyed, and
are apt to bite. A story is told of a fat man
who endeavored to lift large green fellow in
to his boat. The turtle seized him by the
slack of the stomach and the man started up
a roar that startled all the bears in the
vicinity. Fortunately his pantaloons were
very rough, and he escaped without serious
damage.
Last year Bartolo G. Pacetti saw logger
head at Mosquito Inlet weighing more than
five hundred pounds. The turtle was filling
a nest, and was of such size that it was use
less to think of turning it by main strength
In this dilemma Pacetti scooped great hol
in the sand at the side of the nest AS TIN
monster rose and started for the sea, Ia
exerted all his strength and tumbled it int
the hole. 1t struck upon its back and set it
flippers in motion. Pacetti says that for fivt
minutes he thought the sky was filled witt
ashes. The sand flew in all directions, ant
the turtle would have covered regiment il
it had had the opportunity.
Once ON its back a turtle is helpless. II
will throw sand faster than tanning mill cal
spout chaff, but it is securely anchored, and
will lie there until it dies if not removed
Beachcombers turn their turtles by moon.
light, and secure them in the morning.
Some of The inhabitants take the turtles il
the heat of the day with q cast-net. l spent
one day hunting them with DR.. William
Whitfield, formerly of Philadelphia. The
Doctor walked along the surf at low tide,
carefully watching the sunken coral rocks
The turtles would rise between the rocks and
blow like porpoises. In an instant the cast
net was in the air. AS it spread on the water
tor rushed into the sea, caught it by the Zip
per and dragged it out. These turtles were
small green ones. Their meat was tender and
juicy, and the Doctor preferred them to those
caught in the rivers They fed upon the
delicate seaweed growing between the cora
formations.
With all it's enemies Oh land, the turtle has
u ferocious assailant in the water. Enormous
sharks, cruel and voracious, frequent the
coast and inlets of Florida. They attack the
largest turtles, biting off their heads and flip
pers without ceremony. During the latter
part of April caught an old loggerhead neal
New Smyrna. 1t had been stranded at high
tide in the slue of sand bar and was not able
to get out A shark had bitten off one of It'll
fore flippers. 1t weighed one hundred ant
seventy pounds.