290 



THE AMERICAN MUSEUM JOURNAL 



pounds, with a shell 13 14 inches long, 

 9 inches wide, and 5i/4 inches deep.^ 

 (Later we secured a small specimen on 

 Captiva Island, which weighed 4% 

 pounds, was 8I/2 inches long, 6 inches 

 wide, and 31^ inches deep.) How this 

 big tortoise got to the island is some- 

 thing of a mys- 

 tery, as the s]je- 

 cies is entirely 

 terrestrial; it 

 must have been 

 drifted out by 

 some accident of 

 flood or sti)nii. 



The gopher 

 tortoise is a vege- 

 table feeder and 

 its flesh is good 

 eating. Wc found 

 the meat de- 

 licious. Unlike 

 our common box 

 tortoise the plas- 

 tron is not hinged, 

 but when alarm- 

 ed, the creature 

 draws in the 

 head completely 

 out of sight, and 

 tucks back the 

 feet so that only 

 the rou.gh, flat, 

 scaly surfaces are 

 exposed. The tur- 

 tle is then practically immune from 

 attack. I was much interested to be 

 told by Captain McCann that he had 

 once found a diamond-back rattlesnake 

 with a small specimen of this species of 

 tortoise inside of him. Captain ]\IcCann 

 is an accurate and trustworthy observer. 

 I had supposed that rattlesnakes fed 

 exclusively on birds and mammals. 



^ The gopher tortoise (Testudo polyphemus) has 

 been known to attain a length of eighteen inches, 

 altiiough the average size is probably in the neigh- 

 borhood of one foot. 



Mr. Russell J. Coles, whose observations on 

 turtles are quoted in the article, and whom 

 Colonel Roosevelt accompanied as guest on his 

 recent devilfish hunt off the west coast of Flor- 

 ida. Mr. Coles is scientific authority on the 

 devilfish (Manta biroatris), as well as the great- 

 est hunter of the species 



In the fringe of mangrove swamp on 

 the island we got three small diamond- 

 l)ack terrapin of the Gulf variety. 



Out in the bay we once or twice saw 

 loggerhead turtles. Mr. Coles and the 

 })rofessional fishermen who were with 

 us related many instances of attacks 

 they had wit- 

 nessed by sharks 

 on full-grown sea 

 turtles, both the 

 loggerhead and 

 the green turtle. 

 I knew that 

 >b;ii-ks gulped 

 down small tur- 

 tles whenever 

 tiiey met them, 

 but I had not 

 realized that they 

 attacked the big 

 ones. My com- 

 panions, how- 

 ever, assured me 

 that nearly half 

 of the full-grown 

 turtles wliicli 

 they had caught 

 showed signs of 

 having been at- 

 tacked at one 

 time or another 

 by sharks. Usu- 

 ally this meant 

 that one flipper 

 was gone. In one case the turtle had 

 lost two flippers, obviously at different 

 times. On one occasion Captain Jack 

 was attracted by a great commotion in 

 the water and sailed toward the scene. 

 He found a very large shark with a huge 

 loggerhead turtle in his mouth, the tur- 

 tle frantically waving all four legs while 

 the shark shook its head in the effort to 

 get its teeth through the shell. The final 

 outcome he was not able to observe. Sir. 

 Coles said that on several occasions he 



