The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1888-08-09
TURTLE HUNTING.
bow the Big Kentucky Snappers
Are Caught.
hurtles Hunting on Their Own Account
How They Lie Low in the Mud and
Doxe and Pull Down the I'm
wary Duck.

80, B wild mallard drake, with a curled
'' hil and four wives, was quietly taking
y has rs breakfast in the bosom of his
owing amily yesterday morning among the
,ck In reeds and willows on the west bank of
means |he Licking River at the mouth of Bank
owing Lick Creek, Kenton County, Kentucky.
inlals The ooze here is rich in worms, slugs
Herd land tender shoots of aquatic vegetation,
st tel land for a time the drake swung him
ven Nslf on his axis and wobbled his tail in
reedis he air while his beak was twittering
rasHI md sucking in the sludge under the
~ asa ss iver's surface, with considerable con-
4NM %entration. 1t was plain that he had
s' a. a5e sruek soft snap and knew it.
ss'ss y, sss Once when he brought his head
Lasa71 ihove water to swallow a slug and cart
81 ss,s " little largesse of gentle quacks into
flaS9 lis harem, something seemed to take
! l7Asa l6d OF his legs from below. He
Hwaeked frantically and beat the water
siih his wings. Then his wings and
fsb back and his head went under,
igfons shile his four wives excitedly lifted
lels 70 hemselves into the air and winged
heir way into another county.
their Holy smoke! That must be big
II sea- blow, remarked French Henry, as
o Lass y rowed toward the spot where the
fucks had been feeding. Henry is a
Gently scotsman Of some repute in this lati-
ed bis hde, whose attention just now is turned
t part the turtle harvest. With a sixteen
ques- bot skiff a couple of No. 2 steel traps,
sHobertrifie carryinga a % ball, q long
p,,pty, handled stable fork, which he dubbed
ever SCOOP" and half dozen three-inch
roken looks attached to as many strong sea
,,ch ii grass lines, he was out on q turtle
hunt
; lats lheriver at this point is from twenty
sats. iorty yards wide, and lips its way
il ID over the bar of clean sand and gravel
no Al Which time and spring freshets have
ia,aa brought down the creek and anchored
sams mere. Almost Immediately feathers
.s ina 0egan to rise from spot about three
s, ,ha yards out from shore, and the clear
voung water became tinged in that place with
AZ far bloody streak. As the skiff drew
asar to the troubled point we could
81. i yearly make out the form of turtle
',....l aachored upon the sand about three
YET below the surface, and sheltered
- nun the force of the current by %
.fs ~ edge OF limestone. His shell looked
.,.,,. aoOut two feet long by a foot and a
aah In breadth. He held the body of
ae mallard under him while he tore
p01s y body and breast with his hooked
7 n.s' working with the eagerness of a
~ ueufe and much the same general
:. IA '.'ion' In his feast upon the warm body
~ < the drake, as that bird displays
hss saen greedily tearing piece of car
is'' s 'a0n OF which he expects shortly to be
+spossessed.
gu Ihey will plant themselves in the
? :, S saa on the bottom of the river near
9 " nofe those big fellows will" said
~ 8. 4eafy' with their heads just peeping
= wv thelr shells, and in the course of
Il AL an hour the current has busted
~ aeaa with mud and leaves and bits of
= ..,el sas until suntish can't tell them
s0i rock to save his soul, and so he
lsa's uown that way, with one eye
oais'' s'Aing out for danger and the other
sfu $ = gruo, and all at once something
'es y OUT from that muddy rock and
'ns 5. s'snes the sunfsh by the side or the
apss IN ol the head or the tail 1t don't
az any difference where it catches
hoa ,. s - 4 20 long as it takes a good mouth
'asn :. = secause that thing that has darted
Ea'' s. y swapping turtles head, and
sa'cVer 1t catches it keeps. Then
80 Mftle tucks the fish under him,
I'l'' ~ - = ne has the mallard there, and
y. :. & ssn m aaa swallows like hungry lion.
! a1ae ~ j. ne VIII eat catfish and snakes, and
~. $ ss'ss any thing that lives in water,
8 - 8 once saw one out in the meadows
: ~ s - nng grasshoppers. Straight goods,
&c 40 see big turtle on land il