MARINE TURTLES AND TERRAPINS 663 



should be partly dry at low tide, but should always contain some water. Young 

 terrapins are good climbers until they are 2 or 3 years old; therefore their pen 

 must be constructed with great care. The adult terrapins are fed on fish and crabs; 

 the young terrapins are usually given fish or oysters during their first winter. 

 Terrapins can thrive without fresh water, but their pens are usually supplied 

 with fresh water in a shallow drinking trough. 



A bed of sand above the highest tides is provided as a nesting place. After the 

 close of the laying season the adult terrapins are kept off the egg bed. Usually 

 about 90 per cent of the eggs hatch. As the eggs hatch, the young terrapins are 

 collected and placed in the shade in tubs or tanks containing a little fresh or salt 

 water. Feeding with fish, crab meat, or oysters is commenced as soon as the young 

 terrapins are placed in the tanks; at first only a few eat, but after 3 or 4 days 

 most of them begin to feed. If young terrapins are allowed to hibernate, suitable 

 quarters should be prepared for them as soon as cool weather comes. A large box 

 containing layers of sand and eelgrass when sunk in the sand in a well-drained 

 spot serves the purpose. It has been found that it pays to keep the newly hatched 

 terrapins in a warm house during their first winter, thus preventing their hiberna- 

 tion. By this means the terrapins are fed through the winter, and none is lost 

 because of hibernation. The winter house is constructed like a greenhouse, with 

 the south slope of the roof of glass, and is heated by a coal stove which maintains 

 the temperature between 80 and 85° F. The tanks are placed on trestles in this 

 house, and the terrapins are fed as before. 



The young terrapins should be kept separate from the older ones until they are 

 3 years old. The older terrapins do not harm the younger ones intentionally, but 

 in a crowded pen they kill their offspring by trampling them and depriving them 

 of food. 



The Fish and Wildlife Service has been very successful in propagating terrapins 

 at the Beaufort Station by the method just outlined. The experiments have dealt 

 with only 2 species of the diamondback terrapin, namely, the Carolina terrapin 

 and the Texas terrapin; however, it is probable that the other 3 species may be 

 successfully propagated by similar methods. 



There are a number of commercial hatcheries in operation in the Chesapeake 

 Bay area at the present time. 



Methods of Fishing. Because of the scarcity of terrapins the fishery is of little 

 importance commercially, and only a relatively few fishermen engage in it as a 

 part-time occupation. The dragnet and the dip net are 2 common instruments of 

 capture. With the former, the net is set across the lower part of the marsh creek 

 or river while the fishermen rout the terrapins out of the upper part of the river; 

 the terrapins driven out in this manner go downstream with the tide and are 

 caught in the net. 



At high tide, when the terrapins are swimming about and feeding over the 

 marshes, they are sometimes taken in dip nets. The fisherman poles his skiflF 

 among the grassy areas and watches closely for terrapins which are found feeding 

 on the small snails which live on the marsh grass. When a terrapin is seen, it is 

 captured in the dip net or crab net. 



A more common method of fishing is followed at low tide by men who, while 

 wading in mud, carry a stick with which they probe into the soft mud in their 

 search for terrapins which lie nearly buried. 



