144 ECONOMIC ZOOLOGY 



any intelligence. They know me, however, as a dog knows his master. 

 I have a peculiar clucking sound with which I call them. They will 

 also respond to a whistle. The terrapin will crawl over my feet and 

 almost up my leg to reach their food. They will also come when I 

 wave a handkerchief. It is a rather flesh-creeping sensation to hear 

 the claws of 5000 terrapin scraping over firm sand. From any- 

 body except me the terrapin will flee. He is one of the shyest of crea- 

 tures. A little noise will confuse and terrify him readily. I once went 

 into the pens wearing a new suit of clothes and a new pair of shoes. 

 I was very much surprised to see my pets fleeing in panic from me in 

 all directions." 



The pens are guarded at night against thieves by a number of dogs. 

 These dogs and the terrapin soon become so accustomed to each 

 other that they live together in perfect peace and harmony. The 

 terrapin should be killed by amputation of the head, not by immersion 

 in boiling water, as is often said, and various precautions in dressing 

 and cooking the meat should be taken in order to secure the best flavor. 



The Common Snapping Turtle, Chelydra serpentina, Fig. 97. This 

 familiar chelonian inhabits ponds and slow-running streams of the 

 United States east of the Rockies. It sometimes weighs as much as 

 40 pounds and is named from its habit of snapping at any annoying 

 object with such vigor that human finger may be amputated by a mod- 

 erate-sized specimen. They are sold in large numbers in some of the 

 greater cities and bring about 10 cents a pound. 



The food of the snapper consists of all sorts of animal matter, and 

 it is sometimes very destructive to ducks and other water fowl, destroy- 

 ing entire broods of the young birds. Should the snapper become a 

 pest in the duck pond it may be caught, according to Surface, by baiting 

 a strong fish-hook with a piece of tainted meat and tying the line to a 

 slender stake or. tree that will bend when the turtle pulls. The hook 

 must be fastened to the line by a length of slender wire so that the turtle 

 cannot bite it off and escape. 



In ,its feeding habits, then, it is probable that the snapper is more 

 harmful than beneficial; the birds, frogs and fish it destroys more than 

 making up for the insects and other pests that it eats. 



The Soft SheUed Turtles, Genus Trionyx, Fig. 98. There are several 

 species of soft shelled turtles in the United States, and while they are 

 differently named by different writers they may all be recognized by 



