Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1891-02-01
TERRApINS TRAPPED,
pREpcgs, TRAPS, NETS, TORCHES,
ToMToMs, PiTcHFoRKS.
Trained Dogs Hcip tho Hantcrs-pciuded
bv the Heat of Burpina Grass Above
They Tumble Out.

OF toll. and therefore tne b'to aht'l,ei
fucks his candle. appendage so closely
under his shell that oniy. the salt OF bis
native element ever reaches IL until he
goos TO pot.
The fishers IN Carolina. Virginia, and
MARYLAND waters use even more simple de-
vices than salt TO capture the. diamond
backs. Forty years ago terrapins were as
numerous in southern waters as neas are
Yeputed TO be in Spain. In those days OF
plenty they were caught IN oyster dredges,
and dozens camc up in the iron net every
time Il was raised out OF the mud.
oLp-TrMR TERRrIs cATcHys.
Old people in Baltimore and Norfolk, in
face OF the present scarcity and high price
81 terrapin. recall with stomachic regret
the elysian past. when dinmond-backs sold
for q shilling apiece and were eaten by
rich and poor.
February. 1s49. when Captain John Ether,
idge. OF Body's Island Light. in ten days
dredring caught ALSO terrapins and sold
them in Norfolk for 500. He at once re
sumed the profitable work and in less than
two weeks lifted 900 Of the edible little
turtles out Of the mud and sold them IN
Baltimore for $3.50.
Etheridee's phenomenal catches soon be-
came known 10 the sailor-men on the water
WAYS between Cape Fear and baltimore,
and from that time the wholesale extermi-
nation OF the terrapin began. Every hiding;
placo OF the diamond-back was pioughed
with dredces and for few winters so
many were caught that they sold IN hoa-
noke. Norfolk. and Baltimore for u
dozen.
MrDGrrr's TURTLE DREDGE.
In few years the ter-apins were so scat
tered by constant dredging that lney 10
longer lived in colonies OF many hundred'
A few years ago William Midget, OF Roa-
noke. invented IN Improvement on the
oyster dredge for terrapin catching, ~
was a heavy rope net, with iron-toothed
laws and with meshes big enough TO per-
nit the mud 70 pass through, as the con-
trivance was dragged along the bottom.
These nets are used on sloops ana canoes
that run about in shallow water and are
more easily handled than an oyster
schooner or pungie. To insure catches
fhe weather must be cold enough TO chill
The water. when the terrapins at once bury
themselves in the mud and become torpid.
Then they are literally ,pioughed out Dy
the iron laws of the turtle-net as the yes
sci, under sail, dragS It's terfaplh destroyer
through the water.
The terrapin is g swift and strong swim
mer and easily evades the gaping net IL ne
ls not rendered sluggish by the cold. IN
the foil. before the weather is cold enough
10 make dredging profitable, and the ter
rapIns are swimming and feeding, trap is
used.
A.! ooA1ED INTO TRAP
This device is not unlike an immense
lobtter pot. Coarse netting covers hye
houps three feet in diameter, The trap is
between five and six feet deep. with
funnel in each end. Fish bait Is hung IN
theEentre. A pole is driven firmly In the
muA and the trap is fastened to 1t in such
a MANNER that part of the net remains
above the water.
This is ingeniously arranged so that the
imprisoned terrapin can come up ana
breathe mir. without which he would drown
in a short time. There is an opening IN
the side of the trap, from which the cap
five terrapin is taken out. Then the trap
hasto be rebaited, as the vOraclous prisoner
deyotes his sole attention to devOuring the
fish until be is lifted out. One fisher often
has dozen traps under his eyes as he SITS
on the shore until one of the poles moves.
Then he knows terrapin is dining IN the
net. go
The hunting Of terrapins with dogs is
chiefly practiced about Roanoke and the
Chesapeake bay. Ours are the best, and
sir months is required 20 break one. A
well-trained terrapin dog is valued at 500.
Once broken the dogs develop great sa-
gacity for the chase.
MISUNDERSTANDING DOGS.
They are only used in the spawning sea
son in the summer. when the terrapin
leaves the water TO deposit It's eggs. Inc
dog is taught 10 follow along the waters
edge until he finds aterrapin track coming
out of the water. Then the canine must
determine whether 1t Is new or an old
one. If old he passes on. If fresh he FOL
lows the trail to the terrapin's nest IN the
sand under grass or bushes, perhaps
fifty yards away. When the dog discovers
l. hao M m
and holds her while he barks. The man
comes up, puts the terrapin in net bag,
and the dog starts of in search OF more
game. As many as fifty terrapins have
in this way been caught by one dog In Q
single day. These terrapins are sold &C
pound-keepers, who keep Thorn until
winter and then sell them.
Fish commissioners are moro opposed tC
this form of terrapln-hunting. than any
other, as countless nests are broken uI
every summer.
On the other hand, the pound-men de
clare that they are public benetactors, a
they make this prince of edible turtles
more plentiful by protecting him.
bitches DUG FOR TRAPS.
In many places terrapin-hunters in thu
fall DIG long, shallow bitches in thu
marches and on fats. When the tide I
out they with brush scratch the mudd,
bottom to apaste. The tide packs itsome
hut IL remains soft long enough for the ter
rapins to find and burTow in it--thlnl
thew have found q soft spot in which Il
sleep through the cold weather.
When winter arrives the maker of thes
muddy preserves goes hunting with hay
fork. By long practice he can tell whel
the tines he is probing the mud with strik
O sleeping terrapin. Then he digs 1t on
MARYLAND and Virginia darkies have give,
up the rabbit and tho coon for the NOR
profitable chase Of the mud-buried terra
pin. They spend days in the marshe
armed with light iron bar about five fee
long and tramp miles of mud. Like tn
men with tho pitchforks. the negroes ar
so skilful that whenthe iron taps terra
pin-shell they are never in doubt. Da
after day the darnes track and retrac
over the fats that grid Chesapeake ba
locating terrapins In the mud.
The darby has such a tender regard TO
the comfort of his stomach that few c
the terrapins he captures ever reach
market.
pELUprSG THE TURTLES.
An odd way of catching terrapins in wiz
Tar. when they are embedded in mut
under dead grass. cat-tals, and flags. Is {
fire this vegetable matter. As 1t burns I'd
ground becomes heated, and the terrapini
USluQcu Dy tHt piPthk
arrived. They come narrowing out of th
soil and are nabbed by the hunters. HUI
dreds have been caught this way ina singl
day.
Ia Maryland and Virginia waters and o
the Atlantic coast as far South as Car
Fear, countless turtles IN the summer an
autumn live in deep holes along the creel
and thoroughfares- Three hunters, in
canoe or skiff. with scoop,nets aud sma
seine stop noiselessly on the edge OF one
these pools. -,
They suddenly begin hammering on I'll
boat with heavy clubs Of wood. This
called "bucking." The curiosity OF II
terrapins Is aroused, and they come TO u
surface to see what il is all about. The
are promptly ladled into tho boat wit
scoop-nets.
THE "BUcKrNo" DEVICE.
II none rise TO the surface, but are so di
turbed by the bueking that they can |
seen swimming about q few feet below, Il
seine is hauled. During this work ID
"bucking is vigorously kept up.
In the summer, about nesting tim