368 Popular Science Monthly 



fully treated. *A few salient facts from this Shooting Snapping Turtles with 



bulletin can be quoted appropriately here: an Ordinary Rifle 



A defective rod is not, as commonly 

 stated, necessarily a menace to 

 a building. A poor 



rod is generally better 

 than none. 



Copper, aluminum 

 and iron are all suit- 

 able material for light- 

 ning-rods. Iron must 

 be galvanized. 



Contact between 

 different metals 

 should, in general, be 

 avoided, to prevent 

 the danger of electro- 

 lytic corrosion. Con- 

 tact between lead' and 

 copper is an exception. 



Insulators in clamps 

 fastening lightning- 

 rods to buildings are 

 no longer used, except 

 in localities where prej- 

 udice in their favor 

 still demands that 

 their use be continued. 



No system of pro- 

 tection for oil tanks 

 has betn devised which 



A hollow copper lightning rod, crushed by a 

 current estimated at twenty thousand amperes 



JUST before a snapping- 

 ** turtle makes up his berth 

 preparatory to snooz- 

 ing away a long win- 

 ter, he makes a sort of 

 itinerary of small lakes 

 and ponds, apparently 

 with the one purpose 

 of stealing ducks and 

 other water-fowl that 

 live in game preserves. 

 In this way, such ponds 

 often become thickly 

 tenanted with unwel- 

 come inhabitants 

 which are not easy 

 to get rid of. The 

 best plan is to keep 

 the turtles out by 

 means of a fence of 

 coarse wire netting. If 

 this precaution has not 

 been observed and the 

 pond becomes infested, 

 the quickest way to 

 exterminate the in- 

 truders is to shoot 

 them with a good rifle. 

 Turtles are hard of hearing. You can 



is accepted by oil companies as giving a 



degree of protection at all commensurate fire a rifle six times in their immediate 



with the cost. vicinity without scaring them away. But 



The loss of live stock in fields can be their keen sense of sight more than makes 



reduced by earthing wire 

 fences by means of galvan- 

 ized iron pipe or posts at 

 intervals of one hundred 

 yards or so, and breaking up 

 the electrical continuity of 

 the fence at intervals by in- 

 serting sections of non-con- 

 ducting wood. 



Several ranchmen in the 

 West and Northwest have 

 adopted this method. 



It might be well to add in 

 this connection and just at 

 this time when powder maga- 

 zines and ammunition fac- 

 tories are such an important 

 factor in the world's affairs, 

 that the system of pro- 

 tection from damage by light- 

 ning for such places is at 

 present far from satisfactory. 



A half-inch groove 

 gouged in a monument 

 by a bolt of lightning 



* " Protection of Life and Property Against Lightning," by 

 O. S. Peters, Washington, 1915. For sale by the Superintendent 

 of Documents, Washington, D. C. Price, 35 cents. 



up for any deficiency in hear- 

 ing. They disappear in the 

 water the moment they dis- 

 cover anything unusual. 



Snapping turtles appear to 

 be very inquisitive. This 

 weakness can be used to ad- 

 vantage. Choose a conven- 

 ient spot where you can re- 

 main motionless for some 

 time and watch your chance 

 to fire the fatal shot. The 

 foolish turtle will be sure to 

 see something of interest and 

 set out to investigate. He 

 may swim a long distance, 

 coming to the surface every 

 few yards to inspect the 

 object of his curiosity. When 

 he is sufficiently near, take 

 careful aim and fire. If 

 your patience is as great as 

 the curiosity of the turtles you will event- 

 ually rid the pond of them. 



