﻿SNAPPING 
  TURTLE. 
  355 
  

  

  New 
  England 
  Records. 
  — 
  It 
  has 
  been 
  reported 
  from 
  every 
  New 
  England 
  State 
  and 
  is 
  con- 
  

   sidered 
  common 
  throughout 
  most 
  of 
  the 
  region. 
  In 
  the 
  collection 
  of 
  the 
  Boston 
  Society 
  of 
  

   Natural 
  History, 
  there 
  are 
  five 
  specimens: 
  one 
  from 
  Wellesley, 
  one 
  from 
  Gloucester 
  (juv.), 
  

   one 
  from 
  Riverview, 
  Charles 
  River, 
  Mass., 
  and 
  two 
  from 
  the 
  vicinity 
  of 
  Augusta, 
  Maine. 
  

  

  Breeding 
  Habits. 
  — 
  Agassiz 
  (1857, 
  vol. 
  2, 
  p. 
  496) 
  found 
  that 
  in 
  New 
  England 
  the 
  Snapping 
  

   Turtle 
  always 
  laid 
  its 
  eggs 
  between 
  June 
  10th 
  and 
  25th. 
  I 
  have 
  never 
  found 
  it 
  laying 
  outside 
  

   of 
  these 
  time 
  limits. 
  During 
  this 
  season 
  the 
  female 
  is 
  commonly 
  seen 
  travelUng 
  about, 
  often 
  

   at 
  a 
  considerable 
  distance 
  (one-eighth 
  of 
  a 
  mile 
  or 
  more) 
  from 
  any 
  body 
  of 
  water. 
  The 
  nests 
  

   are 
  often 
  made 
  in 
  the 
  side 
  of 
  a 
  bank 
  and 
  in 
  scooping 
  out 
  the 
  earth 
  with 
  her 
  hind 
  legs, 
  the 
  turtle 
  

   often 
  loosens 
  it 
  above 
  so 
  that 
  she 
  is 
  partially 
  or 
  almost 
  completely 
  buried 
  while 
  laying. 
  Upon 
  

   crawling 
  out, 
  this 
  earth 
  falls 
  over 
  the 
  eggs 
  and 
  covers 
  them. 
  The 
  following 
  is 
  an 
  amusing 
  

   account 
  of 
  the 
  actions 
  of 
  a 
  female 
  in 
  selecting 
  a 
  nest 
  site 
  as 
  observed 
  by 
  the 
  late 
  Professor 
  J. 
  W. 
  P. 
  

   Jenks, 
  and 
  related 
  by 
  Dallas 
  Lore 
  Sharp 
  (Face 
  of 
  the 
  Fields, 
  1911, 
  p. 
  40): 
  

  

  "Leaving 
  my 
  horse 
  unhitched, 
  as 
  if 
  he, 
  too, 
  understood, 
  I 
  slipped 
  eagerly 
  into 
  my 
  covert 
  

   for 
  a 
  look 
  at 
  the 
  pond. 
  As 
  I 
  did 
  so, 
  a 
  large 
  pickerel 
  ploughed 
  a 
  fiu-row 
  out 
  through 
  the 
  spatter- 
  

   docks, 
  and 
  in 
  his 
  wake 
  rose 
  the 
  head 
  of 
  an 
  enormous 
  turtle. 
  Swinging 
  slowly 
  around, 
  the 
  

   creature 
  headed 
  straight 
  for 
  the 
  shore, 
  and 
  wthout 
  a 
  pause 
  scrambled 
  out 
  on 
  the 
  sand. 
  

  

  " 
  She 
  was 
  about 
  the 
  size 
  of 
  a 
  big 
  scoop-shovel; 
  but 
  that 
  was 
  not 
  what 
  excited 
  me, 
  so 
  much 
  

   as 
  her 
  manner, 
  and 
  the 
  gait 
  at 
  which 
  she 
  moved; 
  for 
  there 
  was 
  method 
  in 
  it 
  and 
  fixed 
  purpose. 
  

   On 
  she 
  came, 
  shuffling 
  over 
  the 
  sand 
  toward 
  the 
  higher 
  open 
  fields, 
  wth 
  a 
  hurried, 
  determined 
  

   seesaw 
  that 
  was 
  taking 
  her 
  somewhere 
  in 
  particular, 
  and 
  that 
  was 
  bound 
  to 
  get 
  her 
  there 
  on 
  

   time. 
  

  

  "I 
  held 
  my 
  breath. 
  Had 
  she 
  been 
  a 
  dinosaiuian 
  making 
  Mesozoic 
  footprints, 
  I 
  could 
  

   not 
  have 
  been 
  more 
  fearful. 
  For 
  footprints 
  on 
  the 
  Mesozoic 
  mud, 
  or 
  on 
  the 
  sands 
  of 
  time, 
  

   were 
  as 
  nothing 
  to 
  me 
  when 
  compared 
  with 
  fresh 
  turtle 
  eggs 
  on 
  the 
  sands 
  of 
  this 
  pond. 
  

  

  "But 
  over 
  the 
  strip 
  of 
  sand, 
  without 
  a 
  stop, 
  she 
  paddled, 
  and 
  up 
  a 
  narrow 
  cow-path 
  into 
  

   the 
  high 
  grass 
  along 
  a 
  fence. 
  Then 
  up 
  the 
  narrow 
  cow-path 
  on 
  all 
  fom-s, 
  just 
  Uke 
  another 
  

   turtle, 
  I 
  paddled, 
  and 
  into 
  the 
  high, 
  wet 
  grass 
  along 
  the 
  fence. 
  

  

  ' 
  ' 
  I 
  kept 
  well 
  within 
  the 
  sound 
  of 
  her, 
  for 
  she 
  moved 
  recklessly, 
  leaving 
  a 
  trail 
  of 
  flattened 
  

   grass 
  a 
  foot 
  and 
  a 
  half 
  wide. 
  I 
  wanted 
  to 
  stand 
  up, 
  — 
  and 
  I 
  don't 
  believe 
  I 
  could 
  have 
  turned 
  

   her 
  back 
  with 
  a 
  rail, 
  — 
  but 
  I 
  was 
  afraid 
  if 
  she 
  saw 
  me 
  that 
  she 
  might 
  return 
  indefinitely 
  to 
  the 
  

   pond; 
  so 
  on 
  I 
  went, 
  flat 
  to 
  the 
  ground, 
  squeezing 
  through 
  the 
  lower 
  rails 
  of 
  the 
  fence, 
  as 
  if 
  

   the 
  field 
  beyond 
  were 
  a 
  melon-patch. 
  It 
  was 
  nothing 
  of 
  the 
  kind, 
  only 
  a 
  wild, 
  uncomfortable 
  

   pasture, 
  full 
  of 
  dewberry 
  vines, 
  and 
  very 
  discouraging. 
  They 
  were 
  excessively 
  wet 
  vines 
  and 
  

   briery. 
  I 
  pulled 
  my 
  coat-sleeves 
  as 
  far 
  over 
  my 
  fists 
  as 
  I 
  could 
  get 
  them, 
  and 
  with 
  the 
  tin 
  

   pail 
  of 
  sand 
  swinging 
  from 
  between 
  my 
  teeth 
  to 
  avoid 
  noise, 
  I 
  stumped 
  fiercely, 
  but 
  silently 
  

   on 
  after 
  the 
  turtle. 
  

  

  