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Hibernation andl Capture: At tlif lir»l approach of winter the 

 (•((luiiion Hox and I In- Wood Tiirlles go into the woods where leaves 

 and leal mold arc lo !••• found and bury themselves from the danger 

 of freezing, while th(- a<iuatie or water species go into dcM'per water, 

 where Ihey remain warm ami safe, or bury thenuselves in mud under 

 water or along tht? shore. They are fat and in tiue condition in the 

 fall, and it is the habit of hibernating in the mud that makes thera 

 such easy i)rey to turtle lumters who oflen secure scores of them in 

 a day. They are found by pushing a pointed and barbed iron rod 

 deep in the sjind where they are expected (o hibernate, and when 

 the rod strikes their shell the experienced hunter is able to recog- 

 nize it at once, and by mi-ans of the barb or hook the reluctant 

 hibernating creatures are drawn from their winter retreat. They 

 are then doomed to become the food of man, chiefly in restaurants 

 and soup houses in the cities. The gathering of turtles for market 

 is a very important occupation in some portions of this State. 



Turtles are captured not only by the hook and line, and the 

 barbed rod, which is used to find and remove them in the fall and 

 spring, in the mud where they hibernate, as mentioned above, but 

 also by set linens, traps, iiets, seines and guns. One favorite method 

 of catching turtles is to tie a hook to a wire so it can not be bitten 

 off, bait with tainted meat, a cla.ra, or cotton soaked in dough, tie 

 the wire to a short green springy pole, three or four feet in length 

 and stick this deeply into the mud along the bank, throwing the 

 hook into deep water where the turtles may find it, and after swal- 

 lowing they find that the springing of the short pole does not give 

 them the opportunity to break away that they would have if it 

 were tied to some solid object. 



In seining for fishes they are often taken in the nets, although 

 their ettort is to burrow into the mud and pass out beneath the 

 seine. Set nets are often placed for them, and one of tlie favorite 

 methods of capturing them in certain rivers, is by a wire trap with 

 funnel-shaped entrances, somewhat like those seen in \\\ro rat traps. 

 Inside these devices fasten ears of corn and immerse them in tlie 

 water. After the corn has soaked a f<'w days and becomes very 

 sour it attracts the turtles, and in their efforts to get the sour grain 

 to eat, they find their way into the trap and are unable to escape 

 readily. Tliis is lifted from the water at intervals by means of a 

 rope or wire attached and the imprisoned turtles and sometimes 

 fishes are removed. Similar traps are sometimes placed beside the 

 favorite rocks or stones where turtles are liable to rest in the sun 

 and in the immediate territories of which tliey appear \n he the 

 sole and entire monarchs. 



