The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-01-09
SEBEC'S WISE TURTLES
BRAIN POWER THAT ENABLES
THEM Toe DINE OCCASION
ALLY ON EELS
sTRANDIMG ON SWALLOWS

'Ihe whining. SWtftness of the Ee1S
Not Always Protection Against
Their Slow Foes - The Turtles
frOnted am Angler Who Looked
Through asBottIe.
SEBEC, Me-, Dec. s2.-There are two hum
BILE denizens of Sebec lake which help, with
the landlocked salmon. the trout, the black
bass, the white perch and the pickerel to
give this inland water sheet COSMOPOLITAN
character. They are the eel and the turtle.
Neither Is sought by sportsmen and the eel
Is abhorred by fishermen on account of it's
Objectionable habit of taking the bait meant
minnows serves to satisfy Its appetite, and
the only way to get rid of the eel that once
mas been attracted to the bait is to hook 1t,
draw 1t up to the boats gunwale and cut its
head off, There is further retrbutive JUS
tice for the cells when the pot fishermen catch
them IN traps In the autumn as they run
down the tributary streams to their winter
home In the deep water OF the lake. Packed
in barrels. they are shipped to the Boston
markets, where they arrive alive and squirm-
ing, none the worse for their $50 miles Of
overland travel
The turtles rarely bother the fishermen in
any way, and as they account for the disap-
would be in high favor with anglers were it
not for the suspicion that they eat fish spawn.
The only case of downright piracy recorded
against a turtle at Sebec lake was committed
against the peace and welfare of John Rob-
bins the fishing guide and master pilot of the
lake. Robbins. having set line over night
Tor. cells from Crockett's wharf, found on
visiting the place in the morning that instead
OF stretching out into the water the line led
shoreward under the wharf. Tracing 1t up,
he found that an eel had taken the hook and
that turtle had captured the eel and had
carried it under the wharf where it was
comfortably having breakfast. Robbins could
a md rrrnv, hn l1oI
hard he got only the head of the eel the tur-
tie keeping the rest
AS a swimmer the eel outclasses the turtle,
which is not a pacemaker either on land or
in water. But for all that the turtle is
good fisherman and has the get-there qualities
which Aesop long ago, testified to. The
gest of the fresh-watsr kind, with jaws as
strong and snappys as fox trap. 1t Is rub
Der neck OF the first water and can telescope
Its neck and head within its shell beyond
sight or reach when. it prefers seclusion, or
can thrust them out with the swiftness of
darting snake when anything calls for it's
attention outside. 1t approves of fish, invit-
ing their confidence in artful ways and well
coming within. its shell all which swim within
its reach; but its preference is for cells, and
in its advances to them it displays consid-
cradle generalship. Where a rivulet comes
into the lake little channel runs back
into the shore, turtle is apt to be found
matters easily, basking in the sun, and when
eel comes nosing along the shore it stirs
not a fipper and pretends to be thinking of
something else. 1t thoroughly knows the
habits of the eel and forsees that when one
comes to the runlet the chances seven in
ten that it will go up it on the chance OF
the cells tail fairly disappeared from view
in the opening than the turtle, showing for
the first time an interest in its movements,
swims softly to the mouth of the water
course and takes up it after the eel There
is no more possum business now on the tur-
ties part, but g straight chase. In the mar
past the turtle, and unless the wGtercourse
heads in pond or widens into a pool at
great distance from the mouth, the eel
strands on some shallow where the turtle
fastens to it and carries it off to dinner.
/ Similarly, when the cells after their fashion
of wst morning leave the water to- go
the turtle takes shore leave and goes after
them In a clear space the turtle can out
pace the eel on land, but where the grass is
high the eel, wriggling through it where the
turtle has to crush it down. can often keep
ahead and win back to the water
Some years ago fisherman named Badger,
pads in Bennett pond a. tributary. of Sebec
lake, laid his peeled spruce hshpole down
| while he went back from the shore to take
an observation through a bottle that he had
| left in his coat hung to tree. Perhaps he
fingered; at any rate he stayed away long
enough for an eel to grab the bated hook,
which he had left in the water, and swim
away with it, taking line and pole along in its
wake. When Badger came back the pole was
bobbing about the lily-paGs forty feet from
shore, as the eel meandered around on the
| bottom The man had no boat and as the
| pond has bottom of soft mud which fence
rail is not long enough to SOUND, he could
not wade out for his property He stood for a
while, saying things as he watched it travel
further and further away, and then went back
| to where he had hung his coat. He stayed
there some time, and then. before starting for
home went back to the shore to take a last
look at his fishing gear, which he reckoned
was by this time out in the middle of the
pond. To his surprise the pole was in plain
sight not far away, and now was travellng
toward the shore. Something at the end of
the line was pulling it along, and when that
something came into sight at the water s
margin Badger had shivers and wished that
he had devoted less attention to the bottle
that day. He had some bad minutes before
he could identify the composite monster that
came up before him as an immense turtle
carrying in it's jaws a writhing eel the same
that had taken away the pole and tackle.
Badger got hold of the fishing pole and tried
to pull the eel away from the turtle, but the
turtle hung on to it and showed fight when
the man came too near. so Badger gave up
trying at last, and cutting the line as close
up as he could, went away, leaving the eel
with the turtle He described the turtle as
being a foot and half across the shell, and
long in proportion, and said that the reptile
carried three-foot eel as easily as man
would carry bit OF rope. Some of his hear
ers were inclined to discount a few inches on
the alleged length of the turtle, but few
doubted the substantial truth of the story.
There is one brief period in the turtles
round of existence when the eel takes an in
ming The female turtle. in the season de-
posts her eggs on some beach near the water
side and waits for the warmth of the sun to
hatch them out. The eel has fine instinct
for locating these nests. and when strong
wind sends the waves rolling up on the beach
| or heavy rain sets it awash 1t comes ashore.
roots out the eggs and if undisturbed gulps
them down one after another until its body
has the appearance of a stuffed club and is
| so unwieldy that it scarcely can wriggle off
| into deep water. The eel has to hurry it's
business and get away. for the female turtle
| is never far off, and if she comes on the
| scene the affair is apt to end in her dining
on eel stuffed with turtle eggs. There is a
| short period in the young turtles career when
its shell Is tender and cells and bass and pick
| erel hang about to catch it at its first swim
ming lessons but this is only. for week or
| two The young turtle grows very fast and
| it's shell hardens SO quickly that 1t soon
] ceases to be a gastronomic temptation, even