Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1895-08-10
mas sNAPPlNe Turtle.
n Prefer, Retreat. hut tsa "rea' F'E"''
when Cornered.

When Cornered'
S,mc ono has said that all turtles
snan, and. therefore, the name snapper
! should lie applied to all Eat th'S II
not so. for although mos tuct'eS are
Quick in their motions oil mead anu
laws, there are many which are very
deliberate in their movements, n
some which cannot be irritated SO mat
they will bite. The species nndcr ON,
sideration, however, is known to all
from its exceedingly p~ugnaciouS d'Spo-
sitiou. 1t will make every EFFORT TO
escape to its deep pool or mirv retreat
when assailed, but when cornered IL
will fight with u f~erocity and hang-on
with a bulldog tenacity that Is as
amusing as curious Nothing daunts
il. and in its blind rage it will seize n
red.hot iron the sharp edges of any
instrument or any object presented to
IT, Nor does it Learn by experience,
but will continue 10 snap at every
thing which moves near 1t, when the
futilitv of its attack ought to be appar-
ent even to its dull brain.
Its movements in striking are SO
rapid that one wonders how the slug
gish creature can possess such quick
motions The mi of darling at an
object is not remarkably different
from the principle of a snakes strik-
ing. only that the snake strikes from
the slack allowed the lateral curvature
of the neck and fore part of the body,
while the snapper obtains its slack
from its neck which it depresses and
draws into its shell. Its accuracy in
striking is remarkable, and greatly
excels the, at best, uncertain move
ments of the snake; for while a snake
will often, when excited, miss an OBJ
;-ct the size of the hand, the swapping
turtle rarely fails to seize the object
aimed at, even if it should he a small
twig. Like the snake, too, the snap
per Immediately ecovers its guard, 50
to speak, The instant itstrikes it jerks
back it's head. If it misses, it generally
darts forward again and again; but if
il secures its hold it hangs on with a
grip that nothing will shake, and from
which it can only be loosened by Il di-
rect pull, or by the twisting method
sometimes employed in separating bull
dogs.
The swapping turtle is largely car
nivorous and feeds on putrid as well as
fresh fool, but prefers a fresh flesh diet.
| have frequently observed it feeding at
the bottom of a pond or stream, when
it has been seen to be very deliberate.
1t is very partial to fish, and | doubt
not that its food largely consists of
tinny prey. The strength of the ami
nal is p~rodigious. and it secures food
where other and weaker animals would
fail. Not rarely it robs the angler OF
his string OF fish, and does the theft so
silently that the loss is not discovered
until too late to be prevented. Once
when | was with a party splashing for
bass and floating down the river, we
camped on the bank and left a string
of fifty pounds of small-mouthcd bass
in the river to keep fresh. The next
morning, when we started, there were
but two perfect fishes left; most OF
them had been eaten, the heads alone
remaining on the line. | have also
been robbed in broad daylight by these
turtles.
Nothing could be more ridiculous
than the notion of fattening a snapper
in a swill barrel. Because the creature
continues to live in the reeking mass
of garbage it does not follow that it
eats the conglomeration, for it is hard
ly reasonable to suppose that a wild
~hesh-eating reptile is going to gain
flesh by being confined and made to
wallow in sour milk and kitchen accu-
mutations. ] have known OF snappers
dying in such quarters.
The snapper prefers deep pools in
rivers, and is more frequently to be
seen in the spring, basking on the
overturned trees and river debris at
the outside of the bends. In these sit
uations it is not to see ten
to twenty individuals perched about,
ready to plunge into the water at the
first intimation of danger. IL one is
anxious to secure a turtle for the table,
Or for a specimen, my advice is to shoot
it with q charge of fine shot. If the
turtle is shot with the largest sized
bullet the creature will escape, but fine
shot in its head usually will keep il
from sinking at once, and it may be
captured readily if the attempt is made
quickly.
The flesh is excellent when properly
cooked, and the soup-when prepared
bv one who understands the culinary
process is ''out of sight" When
cooked poorly and the soup is thin and
watery-as Ihave sometimes found it
the first impression with a novice Is
often fatal to a repetition Of the expert
ment. We are informed that there are
ten, twenty and even up to n%inety-nint
kinds of meat in a turtle, but these
figures are rather high. There are
three kinds, or, rather, three flavors OF
grades of meat in this animal. The leg
meat is the most abundant, and the
poorest, if such a term a be applied
where all is good and tender; the necl
meat is still better; while the portion
lying along each side of the spine, anc
which has to be cut out from its bony
surroundings, is the best. The amount
of nourishing material ~ a turtle is re
markably small for the weight of thu
creature, and, at best, we can secure
but little from the boxed carcass. /
is no wonder that cooks are SO particu
lar to waste nothing in preparing dia'
mond-back terrapins for the liable
Nothing is eliminated from the terra
pins internal anatomy, excepting tn,
gall bladder, when it goes to max,
the delectable soup. Some snapper
weigh nearly thirty pounds, but mos
of the large one will range from ffteel
to twenty pounds. The meat for cook
ing, from a ten-pouud turtle, will no
go much beyond a pound in weight
American Field.
From . Reliable Eye with ess.
A small tent blossomed on the villag
green the other day, and upon a flap