The Houma courier. (Houma, La.) 1878-1939, 1903-11-07


AAN Ene
-
a pena. nartie2arH IL naft
ne ma9sa ts sNamng. Ids
blitiea Tor she natafa
ms p Be no hmf t7 lae
living cfea5lEes which Dr. m aa8
there 50 the course of Is
respect 8 pond is superior eFsn W
brook, writes Ernest Ha5e
live near such q nopa. and LTist Il
often. j. has ft5 eouneerp s. amy
Of ten thousand little ponds throue hslf
the country. yet The uhited
eminent does not employ 5 number 9
clerks sufficient % eeord Tie business
which Is transacted within aiaht d
banks. NO mattef how hot 81 cold the
weather; no matter how duh thinU arc
IN the country round about-h here there
is always something interesting 90 ae
seen or heard. Here II come Ga the early
spring. TO see the FIRST, sind seemingly
the brightest of the marsh marigQIdss
reflected IN the cold, clear water
lift from the shallow masses 81 trans
parent frog spawn In which may he seen
scores Of tiny black specks. whish tome
day VIII be frogs Naro. too. ( Come 81
night q hear the lonely bittafn calling
his mate d 8 yoics which SQUADS Ike
water beating against the mouth q g
cavern. And letter 81 the year ana
their nest In the marsh near By. hand-
ful Of coarse grasses. with four or Eve
bun eggs. And SO an through the Sans
mer. when the turtles cit in rows on the.
h~alf-sunken logs and when the frogs.
squat upon the lily pads, until the fall
when the muskrats build theiE winter
houses on the mud fats, and when the.
black ducks and the wild geese drop in
to spend a few days on their way to tho
south. Nor is business suspended in
the winter, for then under the shelving
ice along the bank, l mark the tracks
of the mink, and when I see between
them the tiny footprints Of mice, ! know
pretty well what he was looking for
Among the other inhabitants Of this
pond are some huge swapping turtles,
whose age is the subject Of frequent dis
cussions at the nearest country grocery.
Some bear p 0 their shells certain
dates and other marks, which, it is
claimed, were carved more than 80
years ago. It is not often they are
seen, but now and then one OF these old
Williams will raise his great snake-like
head above the surface of the pond, and
blink a pair Of the coolest, cruelest eyes
which ever disfgured the head OF a rep
tile. Nothing in the pond Is sacred to
these hardened old sinners. No doubt
they live largely on ash, but young
muskrats and ducklings are often jerked
below the surface Of the pondto rise no.
more. and wild mice, which sometimes
swim across, are foolhardy, to say the
least. Last June I was walking along
the bank Of a little stream, which flows
through a meadoWandinto pond. when.
my attention was attracted by the peeu-
I1iar movement of a match of waving
RTRHa RI Was easy 70 see NhAC EnE Wfnu'
had little to do with 1t, so I ran over to
investigate. In the middle Of a good-
sized depression caused by the hatten-
ing down OF the grass, stood q giant
swapping turtle, Weighing so pounds II
an ounce, / should say, and with great
horny jaws agape, ready for business. I
guessed that it was probably a femaleon
her way to deposit her eggs in the sand
somewhere, so | decided not to inter-
rupt her. Instead, | retired to a dis
lance, and climbed a tree, whence had
a good view Of the meadow and the sur-
rounding country. The old lady snap
per continued on her way, Mrehing
through the grass like a tramp steamer
In a heavy sea, and stopping now and
then to raise her head and look around,
In the course of time she came out Of the
meadow and into an old road with a
} sandbank running along one side Of 1t.
This bank seemed to be her destination,
for on the side Of it she halted, and be-
gan scraping a hole with her big, be-
clawed front feet. She seemed to be in
no particular hurry, and as / was,
slipped down the tree and left her ia
take her own time. BY and by I re,
turned, and there she was still scratch
ing in the bank. But this time she was
raking the sand into the hole, and the
task was nearly done. / waited until
she had completed the work, and as
soon as she waddled away, / began tC
do some digging myself. Under some
u inches of sand 1 came upon the eggs
/, % of them, pure white and as round al
! marbles. In fact they looked more like
large white alleys than anything elsl
I know Of. I covered them up again
/ and If they are not discovered by
/ skunk or some other animal which i
v fond Of such dainties. they viii prob
i ably hatch some time late in the fan.
! Notable Philanthropy.