The Opelousas courier., 1899-04-01
SPEARING FROGS TO EAT.
a MAINE INDUSTRY THAT ,s A
SPORT. TOO.

POSITION in the World-PalatabIe Rnl1s
Three parties of short-legged French
men from the Acadian settlement OF
the upper st. John river have arrive,
at Portage Lake. Me-, and are now a
work day and night spearing frog.
1of the restaurants in the big cities
Other citizens of Maine know how
TO spear frogs and can take as many
III a day as the most industrious Aca.
dian, but when it comes to selecting
me edible ones and to dressing them
ana putting them in barrels for shin.
ment, the deft manipulation and long.
experience Of Johnny Crapaud place
MN far ahead of all connections as q
purveyor of batrachian delicacies for
jaded palates.
more than q million great, fat,
greco backed and salmon bellied bnll-
irogs we're taken from Portage lake
last year. The lake occupies the
larger parts of two townships, while
eie vast swamps and bog lands in
when the lake IS framed extend over
an ares as big as the state Of Rhode
island. Here, among fallen logs.
swamp flags, spearhead water lilies
and Shiny muck, the vociferous and
palatable bullfrog reaches fullest per-
teetlon. Billions of them reach the
tadpole stage, and millions Of them
assume legs and other functions be-
longing to adult frogs every season,
n though last years harvest OF a
round million will probably be
doubled, there will be millions left to
cling to the spears Of other French
men who shall go there half a century
hence. Until two seasons ago the
barbed six-pronged eel spear was an
unknown implement to the frog hun
ters of northern Maine. Those who
followed the industry for profit went
along the borders of the lake in canoes
and dipped the frogs with long
handled nets or caught them with
hook and line, using red flannel for
bait. Meantime the half-naked chill
dren stood Oh logs and shot their
game with bows and arrows. 1t was
a slow process at best, and though a
Maine Frenchman can subsist for a
year on a dozen rabbits ard six bush
els of buckwheat, with New Bruins
wick fog for butter, he could not COM
pete with his Canadian brethren who
fed on pea soup and muskrat stew.
When the frog catching industry was
IN danger of utter collapse for want
OF financial encouragement, natural
list from a Massachusetts, college came
to Portage Lake and told the half
starved fishermen how to capture frogs
with an eel spear. He said hat frogs
were gregarious in their habits of liv-
ing. In the fall when the water
beetles had died and the aquatic
worms had gummed themselves into
chryssalis cases, the frogs, being full
fed and hoarse from much singing of
nights, buried themselves four or five
feet deep in mud and made ready for
a winters sleep. The biggest and fat
test bullfrogs went down first. Then,
as the eason grew colder, the small
ones followed and grouped themselves
around their predecessors, hugging
close to them with legs and arms in
t%erlocked, until there was often a
bushel or two of frogs in a colony.
At such times a man in a shoal boat
could pass among the flooded swamps
and spear out nor frogs in a day
han be could get in a week with nets
hook and line. The Frenchmen
1JI NOT lo1iaro Ii,o 81 E-o& lid -rLor
ne had demonstrated he was right by
actual trial they abandoned the old
Methods to make money spearing
An industrious Frenchman can spear
bout three bushels of frogs a day,
:wo-thirds of which are large enough
o pay for dressing. The body is cut
n two above the hips, the skin of the
lips and legs is pulled off the way
man o his trousers, and when
he white-meated thighs and hips have
,een washed they are packed in bar
els with fish salt enough to keep
hem from spelling and sent away to
The small and lean frogs
hat come UP on the spear are thrown
Jack in the water and allowed to grow
Up. Though most of them are wound
d by the spear thrusts few die of
heir injuries.
A healthy young frog can be punched
ull of holes and in a week he will be
coping around as lively as ever, a
act which has ed bicyclists to re-
lark that they wished pneumatic tires
7ere constructed on the frog plan.
he ofal from the slaughter-the
.eads, trunks and skins of the slain
converted into bait for catch
ng pickerel. AS the pickerel is the
worst enemy, the Frenchmen
all these fish they can eat, know
1g that every dead pickerel means
etter frog fishing next year.
During the season more than $4,000
,orth of sailed frogs legs are shipped
New York and Boston from the
hores of Portage lake. Some down.
iver Frenchmen, envious of the men
t Portage Lake, have Melted about
0, 900 b~ullfrogs, which they have
AIKEN to some swampy lands neal
Vim, where they propose to start a
farm.
Another nursery for stall-fed bull
'ogs is we'll under way in the
own Of Alton, near Old Town.
ompetition is keen, and in a few
ears the city restau ants can afford
, sell fried frogs legs as chearly as
do tshballs or baked beans.