The southern sentinel. (Winnfield, La.) 1883-1910, 1903-11-20
ANIMAL LIFE IN sw1,
Many Interesting Phnsex A.. e. Id
Amid the Grasses Of -
Wet Lands,

A pond, particularly if a Do,,,..
the margin is swampy. has srs,s-
bilities for the nature studen, =
seems TO be no limit to the ya.s.,s
living creatures WHICH he
there in the course of year /, =
respect a pond is superior eve.
brook, writes Ernest Harold Ra,,.s
| live near such pond, and yv:..s
often 1t has its counterpart in aar~
of ten thousand little ponds thro,s,.
the country. yet the United Stats %
eminent does not employ a numhs. :.
clerks sufficient to record the h,.;,.
which is transacted within sigh : q
banks. No matter how no. or eo,s :
| weather; no matter how dull thip,,.-
in the country round about-here ~
is always something interesting =
seen or heard Here come in thu -
spring, to see the first, and seem,,.s
the brightest Of the marsh MARI
reflected in the cold, clear water. - !.
lift from the shallow masses Of r.
parent frog spawn. in which may ben-
scores Of tiny black specks. which =.
day will be frogs. Here. too. cous.
night to hear the lonely bittern e.nl-
his mate in a voice which sound y
water beating against the mouth =
cavern. And later in the year I q
their nest in the marsh near by. 4 NJ.
full Of coarse grasses. with -four a 4.
bun eggs. And so all through tn n.
mer, when the turtles sit in rows q d.
half-sunken logs and when the I'm.
squat upon the lily pads. until The s.
when the muskrats build their W.
houses on the mud flats. and vhea -
black ducks and the wild geese drmh
to spend q few days on their way TOD,
south. Nor is business suspeude1 =
the winter. for then under the shelvIuR
ice along the bank, mark the mn
Of the mink. and when / see betupn
them the tiny footprints Of mice, tYog
pretty well what he was looking III.
Among the other inhabitants e q
pond are some huge swapping tut1a
whose age is the subject of frequez4dk
cussions at the nearest country ruelp.
Some bear upon their shells cesah
dates and other marks, which. 4 Il
claimed, were carved more I'm y
years ago. 1t is not often they =;
seen. but now and then one Of thened1
Williams will raise his great makarlfS
head above the surface of the pom. u1
blink q pair of the coolest. cruele1t o.
which ever disfigured the head Of NJ
tile. Nothing In the pond is saup1 ~
these hardened old sinners No DIR
they live largely on fish, but -
muskrats and ducklings are often IND
below the surface of the pond to IN II.
more. and wild mice, which someftn
swim across, are foolhardy, to ~ t15
least Last June / was walking ol~1|
the bank of q little stream. which O.
through meadow and into pond. -
my attention was attracted BY the D1e
liar movement of a patch Of w1X1U
grass. It was easy 20 see that tho Vt
had little to do with 1t. 50 ran ovull
investigate. In the middle Of 4 -
sized depression caused by the 49,
ing down Of the grass. stood 60
swapping turtle. weighing 50 pou1N
m ounce. should say, and with g.
horny jaws agape, ready for husinmk
guessed that 1t was probably femaAe|
her way to deposit her eggs IN -
somewhere, so I decided mot q -
rupt her. Instead, / retired - >
lance. and climbed tree. whence 1
q good view of the meadow and thec
rounding country. The old lady -
per continued on her way. luIe4
through the grass like Z tramp 80
In Z heavy sea, and stopping noN
then to raise her head and look eEol
In the course Of time she came OF q
meadow and into an old road VI
sandbank running along one dde 6 ~
This hank seemed to be her deslno
for on the side of 1t she halted. - -
gan scraping = hole with her -
clawed front feet She seemed g.
NO particular hurry. and - ! -
slipped down the tree and left -
take her own time. BY and "
turned. and there she was stu scloll
Ing In the bank. But this time - -
raking the sand into the hole, -
task was nearly done. waited -
she had completed the work. - -
soon as she waddled away. ! bee
do some digging myself. Under :
II inches of sand came upon The =
% Of them. pure white and - roane =!
marbles. In fact they looked moee
large white alleys than anything -
| know of. l covered them up -
and II they are not discovered = =
skunk or some other animal vhicl 3
fond Of such dainties, they win -
ably hatch some time late in the naA
Notable Philanthropy.
NJ Chauchard. head of the Mas1e
du Louvre In Paris. has handed o.