Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-10-25
STUDIES IN
NATURAL HISTORY
BY JAMES HENRY RICE, Jr.
sELLIED TERRAPIN


from Virginia south to Florida anc
west to the Sabine river in TeXas-ou
raresWest of the Georgia line.
The extreme length of the larges,
COWS" as the females are called Is
thirteen inches, but such specimens
are rare; oftenest found under ter
inches. The bulls" are smaller than
the "eows" and are tough and rank
Without going further into details II
is enough to know that the "bulF mas
red eyes, whereas the COWS nave
brown or hazel eyes, this being a dls-
tinguishing mark.
The Cambridge Natural History
gives the following detailed descrip-
tion, based on information furnished
by Or. Hugh NJ. Smith, Chief of U. >
Bureau of Fisheries and Miss Durham
of London England, who has spent
many years studying their habits:
Lives on Animal Diet.
This creature lives on strictly ami
NAL diet (but they do eat water weeds
-Rice). Worms, insects, fishes, form
its main sustenance. Fishes are regu-
larly stalked. The tortoise 1--WE call II
terrapin--Rice) watches its opportuni-
ty, slowly it half crawls, half swlms,
along the bottom, rises imperceptibly
ly spread out Webbed feet, then opens
it's sharp cutting jaws wide and makes
a grab at the belly of the fish. Frogs
are most easily stalked when they SIT
upon a floating leaf. The tortoise
rises from below and often waits win
it's nostrils and eyes just above the
water and close TO the frog. After a
while il sinks, and rises again, TINS
time actually touching the toes OF the
non-suspecting frog, smelling at them,
and deliberately biting with side
ward turn of the head. What the jaws
have got hold of is not allowed 10 es-
cape again. The tortoise holds on ana
tears the prey to pieces with the
sharp -clawed fingers. This takes
long time, only the sCraped off fesh
andintestnes being eaten. The skele-
ton remains and sinks to the bottom,
while in the case Of a fish the air.
bladder floats away on the surface, and
remains as one of the surest signs OF
theSeXistence of tortoises in that To-
cality. The bones are cleaned with
WONDERFUL neatness. Some Of my grass
snakes shared this fate, their back
bones, with the hundreds of ribs, be-
ingFpcked, or rather scraped, clean'
scarcely less we'll than If they had been
prehared for museum
AS a rule the prey must be in mo-
ton to be seized, unless the tortoise
hasrwatched it before and even theh
theslatter prefers TO smell 1t Defore
biting. In captivity they soon learn 10
eatSmCat and they become very tame,
but in their native haunts they are
shy and cautious. Fond of basking
updn a. stone or on the banks ION logs
here-Rice), with their four limbs
sprawling, or with the hind legs
stretched backwards and with the
webs spread out so as TO offer as large
a surface5as possible to the rays OF the
sun. they lie motionlcsS for hours and
APPEAR fast asleep. But the slightest
noise, or any other sign Of approach,
is sufficient TO send them pumping
into,the water and to make them scut-
tie along with unsupported aglllty.
Nothing but the audible plump or the
fiat. body and the widening rings OF
the sdisturbed water inditate thelr
presence. After long time Of waiting
we give it up and turn away. That
very instant we see a little ripple,
caused by the withdrawing of the tor
toise. which had come to the surface
and- had been watching us, with only
the nose and eyes peepinS out OF the
watfr. the rest being concealed be-
tween the floating vegetation APP
parently they can not see US well with
theiiD eYes sstill under water, owing TO
the difference Of refraction, otherwise
they would not peep out and then
turn back. q, 1t is certainly not Tor the
want of air, since they can remain be-
low smany hours without breathing.
: Make Long Migrations.
Although they generally feed in the
water. they come on land when tame
and hungry. enough to take the offered
food. Sometimes they make long NIL
gratfOns, perhaps because their old
home is dried up or does not yleld toou
enough They hibernate during the
cold season., buried in. the mud, ana
they do not appear until the spring is
welEadvanced,
During the pairing season, on warm
sprifig nights, they emit short piping
sounds and when they have found each
other. the coupe swim about together
The white. long, oval eggs, averaging
% to- ID nm. "a millimetre is l-25th
of an inch--hence one inch to l5-25ths
or 3-5ths of an inch-RiCe)., and about
ten in number, are laid on land. TINS
is a very curious and iaboriouS Ousl-
ness.
The female, having selected a SUIT
able spot not loose sand, but rather
hard SOL, liee from grass anu ''H'i
dense vegetation (they select conven-
lent corn fields by prefcrencc-Rice),
prepares the ground by moistening II
from the bladder and anal water SacS.
Then it stiffens the tail and boreS
hole with il, moving the tail, but not
the body. The hind limbs then scoop
out the hole. the broad feet moving
alternately and heaping up the soil on
the side. until the hole is about five
inches deep. that is as far as the hind
legs will reach. The eggs are laid ut
the bottom in one layer divided and
distributed by the feet Lastly the soil
is put i'm again and the tortoise, by
repeatedly raising its body and falling
down. stamps the soil firm and fiat,
roughcnS the surface little with its
claws and leaves the nest to its fate.
Nothing but an accident leads to its
discovery.
The young are hatchcd, according to
locality and the kind of season, either
in the same autumn, or not until the
next spring Eggs, laid in garden at
Kicff. in Russia, were hatched eleven
months later
Eggs Good Eating.
These eggs resemble i'm flavor the
eggs of the partridge or those of the
guinea fowl, having none OF the gtlttl-
ness and ClammineSS Of turtle eggs.
The Diamond backed Tcrlapin,
nigh kinsman. is bred in large numbers