The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1892-05-05
MAMMOTH SEA TURTLES.
GIANTS THAT WEIGH ONE
THOUSAND POUNDS.


u.
possible to Hard-Boil q
Turtles Egg.
''Those eggs never get hard boiled.
As the dealer made the remark he
took out of bucket and handed to
the Washington Star reporter three or
four little white spheres Each one
was about an inch in diameter and
looked as if it was covered with ex-
.quisitely delicate canvas.
Those were laid by loggerhead
TURTLE he explained. 1--we seen
tortoises of that kind which would
weigh 1000 pounds apiece. Some
times they grow to 1000 or !. 600
pounds. understand. Sea turtles
get to be monsters. There is kind
called the leather back which is
bigger than the loggerhead; but they
are very rare However, they are
not good for much. only their oil
being used for lubricator
'You take a gthousand-pound log
gerhead and he will measure seven or
eight feet in length and nine feet
across the back, including the f1ippers.
He is very fast and strong swimmer.
SO that you must catch him asleep on
the water if you expect to bag him.
Specimens are often seen many miles
from land. floating on the wave. I'm
like the other great sea turtles, which
prefers a vegetable diet the logger
head is carnivorous. 1t has very
powerful jaws and with them it
easily cracks the shells of large
conchs. eating the meat The young
ones are said to be pretty good in a
stew or soup. but those that are full
grown are leathery and musky in
flavor. Sometimes the oil from the
fat is smeared on the sides of vessels
to keep worms from eating the wood.
lin the spring the female logger
head comes ashore and scoops out
pit with her hind legs in the sand on
the south side of shoaL Then she
lays from $50 to 200 eggs in the hole
and covers them up again with the
sand, leaving them to be hatched by
the heat of the sun. Bears are ever so
fond of turtle eggs of all sorts. and
can find them gobbling amazing
quantities. have known as many as
thirteen nests to be robbed by single
bear in one night As soon as they
are Matched the young ones scuttle
into the water. Grabs. fishes and
shell-fi of all sorts contribute to the
diet of these tortolses.
Turtle eggs are an acquired taste
with most people, although they are
not SO with bears They have a
rough yellow yolk and white like
any other eggs but you can cook
them for a year and the white part
will remain liquid. We sell them
mostly to colored folks Notice the
curious dimple in the side of each.
one If you squeeze it out the dimple
appears on the other side, and YOU
can never get hold of a turtle
egg which hasn't got dimple in.
Most of the green turtles that
reach the Northern market come
from Southern Florida, but there is
another species on tho Pacific Coast.
They grow bigger as you go farther
South. In this latitude they aren' t
often found larger than eight pounds
but at Cedar Keys they reach l, 600
pounds in weight. They live in deep
water and feed on sea plants, mostly
the kind called turtle grass, which
they cut off near the roots eating the
lower parts and leaving the tops float
ing. so that it collects in great
fields and marks the spots where the
animals are to be hunted for by the
fishermen. --s &c.. -. -.
AFTER browsing On such ocean pas
lures the green turtles go to the mouths
OF rivers for baths in fresh water
which they seem to need from time to
time. The Florida fishermen say the
reptiles enter the creeks and roll to-
gether masses OF grass. cementing
them into balls with clay. When the
turn of the tide takes the balls out
to sea they follow them, The fisher
men watch for such balls floating
down the creeks and when they Sc .
them they. stretch nets across the
mouths of the streams and ALWAYS
catch the turtles. -
In springtime the female green
turtle seeks the shore OF q barren
island or the bank of lonely river to
lay her eggs. Being very shy, she
makes landing at night very eau.
tiously: and crawls to a point above
high water mark where she digs a
hole one or two feet deep with her
flippers In this hole she lays from
100 to 200 oggs, arranging them very
carefully. Finally she scoops the
loose sand over the eggs leveling and
smoothing it so that it is hardly pos
sible to tell that there is nest there
The Tortugas islands are a favorite
haunt for green turtles. Pelicans
and other big birds frequent the
breeding grounds and snap up the
young ones as they make for the
water: dare say you know that the
green flesh attached to the upper shell
is called calipash,' while the yellow
flesh attached to the lower shell is
called calipee.' From the eggs an oil
is obtained. but what is called turtle
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