Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1899-07-01
q year. the breaking DIP Of Matching
10 regarded as heavy loss.
Matching the EGGS.

year. the breaking DIP Of q matching"
10 regarded as heavy loss
Matching the Eggs.
Mr.. La valette says it is great error
to state that terrapin place eggs in dry
sand, and that they are Matched by the
SUMS heat. He Showed the writer nest
of eggs, and these were in wet sand COW
cred at depth of five or six inches. In
oubation is brought about by atmospheric
conditions, and it requires from forty to
forty-two days for the eggs to hatch. The
eggs resemble those of a snake, having no
shell, but a thin, tough skin, and are about
the Size Of the egg of the American par
fridge, though not so well shaped. 1t Is
from three to five days after the little fell
lows are released from the eggs before they
are sufficiently strong to go waddling about,
and 1t is always necessary to keep close
watch to prevent their being killed by rats,
crabs and large fish.
The young receive but little attention
from the mother, and almost from the very
first are left to look out for themselves and
get along as best they can. Mr.. La Va
lette has separate pens for the very young,
where it is almost impossible for anything
to get to and destroy them. After a few
months the little terrapin sports around in
the shallow water and crawl out in the
sand banks as frisky as colts in a pasture.
Eggs are always deposited in the months of
May ana June. The female crawls out on
the sand and when she finds a suitable To-
cation she scratches out hole to the depth
Of five or six inches, lays her eggs, and
then carefully covers them over, drawing
her stomach over the sand in such a man
ner as to hide all traces of the nest. This
being done, the terrapin goes back into the
water or grass. and as far as IS known, she
never returns to the nest until time for the
eggs to hatch. A terrapn does not begin
to deposit eggs until she is four years old.
Getting Very Scarce.
About fifty years ago Capt. John Ether
fine diamond-backs for $500 and little
later he shipped to Baltimore about the
same number, receiving. something over
$3.50. This, It is said was the beginning of
the onslaught on terrapin, and from Cape
Fear to Baltimore men are engaged in the
work of terrapin hunting. 1t is known that
tetrapin formerly lived in colonies, but
constant dredging caused them to scatter,
and from that time until the present the
catch has grown smaller each year. Ac-
cording to Mr.. La Valette, the annual ship
ments from the eastern shore of Maryland
Will not exceed $4,000. 1t has not been
more than twenty years since those who
were familiar with the facts began to real
ize that there was danger of a terrapin
famine-that the reptiles would soon be al
most exterminated. The prices then ranged
from SIS to 500 per dozen, while ten years
previous they were only worth half that
amount. The demand was rapidly becom-
ing greater than the supply, thus leaving
III uoupt l!ldl II Woulu Oilly require a SHOTt
time before none but the very rich could
afford to enjoy the succulent meat. Nat
urally with the increase in price there were
thousands engaged in the work of hunting
them, and 1t was found expedient for the
states of Maryland and Virginia to enact
laws governing the taking of terrapin and
the sizes which should be sold in season
These laws have been added to and en-
forced as rigidly as possible. but the
scarcity of the Chesapeake diamond backs
grows more apparent each year, and even
now 1T requires many days of laborious and
tedious work and many miles of Walking
over soft, Doggy marshes, prodding in deep
narrow channels with long-shafted tongs by
men experienced and familiar with the ter
rapin'S cunning habits, before one is taken
from its hiding place. Prior to 1870 the salt
and brackish waters of the bay fairly
teemed with this nearly eXtern1inated and
hence valuable reptile. They were taken by
the dozens at a single haul Of long net,
but the market value was so small as to
render them almost worthless except for
local use. and in consequence thousands of
large egg terrapin were fed to swine or
cooked for fattening fowls. The people,
thoughtleSs and unprincipled, have robbed
themselves by trapping dncalculable guam
titles Of terfapin before they had matured
sufficiently for breeding, and by digging
eggs from beneath the shores where they
had been deposited by the females to hatch.
While the laws enacted by the legisla lures
Of Maryland and Virginia for the protec-
ton OF the terrapin differ somewhat they
are both excellent, and had they been rig
idly enforced this spectacle of ultimate eX-
termination would not exist.