NOTES ON THE BREEDING HABITS OF THE 

 YELLOW-BELLIED TERRAPIN 



By HUGH M. SMITH 



In the Potomac river between Washington and salt water, the 

 yellow-belhed terrapin {Pseudemys rugosa) in former years sup- 

 ported a profitable fishery, but for a long time it has been uncommon 

 and is now seldom sought, those caught being taken incidentally 

 in winter seines hauled for fish. The decline of the fishery, while 

 due primarily to the decrease in abundance of the terrapin, was to 

 a considerable extent dependent on the establishment in Washington 

 and other eastern cities of a trade in southern and western terrapins 

 which could be caught in large numbers and sold at much lower 

 prices than the local species. The terrapins frequented the marshy 

 shores and heads of creeks, and were caught with haul seines and 

 fyke nets during fall and winter. Piscataway creek was one of 

 the best fishing grounds, and many hundreds of dozens of terrapin 

 were taken there every winter for the Washington market. On 

 one day in December, about the year 1883, 240 terrapin were there 

 caught at one seine haul by Mr. L. G. Harron, now of the U. S. 

 Bureau of Fisheries ; they had been buried on a shallow bar, but 

 had uncovered themselves under the influence of an unusually 

 warm spell. The largest were sold for seventy-five cents apiece in 

 Washington, which was about the average price in those days, while 

 the smallest, six to seven inches long, were worth only fifteen or 

 twenty cents. This species is known along the Potomac under the 

 names " slider," " terrapin," and " fresh-water pullet," the last 

 designation being in common use among fishermen and negroes 

 generally. 



The egg-laying season is in June and July, and the place where 

 the eggs are laid is usually a cultivated tract, often a cornfield 

 adjoining the water. It is probable that a field would always be 

 selected, but when there is a high steep bank the eggs are of 

 necessity deposited on the shore. The terrapins visit the fields 

 only during egg-laying time and only for this purpose, and some- 

 times make their nests more than one hundred feet from the water. 

 It has often been observed that six or eight terrapins will lay on 

 the same shore or in the same field, their tracks being easily dis- 

 cernible in the moist or soft sand or loam. The nest is made in 



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