NOTES ON FLORIDA TURTLES 



393 



These are for the goi>her gumbo. I am sure, 

 however, that when I accepted an invitation 

 to accompany two friends on a gopher-pull- 

 ing expedition, it was my instinct as a natu- 

 ralist that prompted me. To get tackle for 

 this sport Ave went out to a bayhead and cut 

 two or three bullace grapevines ( Vitis rotun- 

 difolia), these lianas being common in such 

 places and along streams, often growing to 

 the tops of trees more than one hundred feet 

 in height. For our purpose, we selected 

 several sections of vine, each as straight as 

 possible and a little less than an inch in 

 diameter. With a section thirty feet long, 

 of almost uniform diameter throughout its 

 length, one could reach to the bottom of 

 the longest gopher burrow. Upon one end 

 of each piece of grapevine, we fixed a blunt 

 hook made of iron about a quarter of an 

 inch in diameter. This was fastened to the 

 grapevine with copper wire, as any kind of 

 twdne would have been worn out by the 

 friction against the sharp grains of sand in 

 the walls of the burrow. The end of the 

 hook was semicircular in shape, describing 

 a curve about an inch in diameter. 



Armed with such tackle, we sallied forth 

 looking for gopher burrows, and when one 

 was found, the end of the grapevine upon 

 which the hook was fastened was pushed into 

 the burrow until the hook reached the inner 

 end. The elasticity of the grapevine per- 

 mitted it to follow any turns which might 

 be in the burrow. When the hook came up 

 against the end of the burrow, the vine was 

 twisted a part of a turn, and then a sharp 

 pull was made. If there was a gopher in 

 the burrow, not many twists and subsequent 

 pulls of the vine were usually required to 

 hook the gopher either by the carapace or the 

 plastron. Then by a steady pull it was soon 

 brought to the surface and placed in a bag. 

 The hook did not penetrate the skin of the 

 gopher and made no wound. If one re- 

 laxed the pull while a gopher was being 

 drawn out of a burrow, it generally freed it- 

 self from the hook, probably by pushing 



the hook oft" with one of its feet. Then it 

 retreated to the rear end of the burrow and 

 had to be hooked again. With this appa- 

 ratus, it did not take long to capture all 

 that one could carry.i in fact, this method 

 of capturing gophers is so efficient, that in 

 parts of Florida it is forbidden by law, 

 for the same reasons that certain devices 

 for catching fish or for killing waterfowl are 

 prohibited. 



Another method of capturing gopher tor- 

 toises is by means of a box sunk at the en- 

 trance of the burrow, and lightly covered 

 with twigs and pine "straw" which will give 

 w^ay when the animal attempts to walk over 

 it on leaving the den. If the box is as much 

 as eighteen inches deep, even the largest 

 gopher will not be able to climb up the 

 straight sides; and finding a gopher in one 

 of these box-pits probably affords as much 

 excitement as a trapper feels upon finding a 

 prize in one of his traps. This method re- 

 minds one of the covered pits used by certain 

 African tribes in capturing elephants. 



Gophers are occasionally taken, it is true, 

 outside their burrows. This is made easier 

 by the fact that the animal moves slowly as 

 do all terrestrial turtles. In watching the 

 turtle plod along, one realizes the striking 

 similarity in shape between its hind feet and 

 legs and those of an elephant, a similarity 

 which extends not only to shape, in fact, but 

 also to manner of movement in Avalking. 



Where gophers are found, the vegetation 

 is usually sparse, so that it is possible to 

 trail them by their tracks in the sand. In 

 this way some specimens are taken. But no 

 method furnishes as much excitement as 

 "pulling," and hence it is the most popular, 

 even if those who participate in it do return 

 home with torn and soiled clothing and 

 probably a few red-bugs or chiggers as 

 souvenirs of the hunt. 



G. Clyde Fisher. 



I The photographs illustrating "gopher pulling" 

 were taken by Dr. G. Clyde Fisher. 



