Terrapin Culture

Editor Forest and Stream:

Having been for the past four years interested and engaged in the propagation of the Chesapeake bay diamond-back terrapin, it affords me much pleasure to contribute to your columns the results of said enterprise, and also any information that I have acquired as the habits of the terrapin.

Being a native of Maryland, I have been familiar from childhood with this greatest and costliest of American delicacies; but it never occurred to me that it could be propagated until once, while on a ducking expedition on Mobile Bay in the winter of 1883, I happened to go ashore at a place called Cedar Point, located about thirty miles below the city of Mobile, and there saw the propagation of the terrapin in full operation. This terrapin farm belongs to a man named Dorlon, a brother, or uncle, of the Dorlons of Fulton Market, New York. He has had this propagating farm in operation some twelve or fifteen years. The terrapin that he raises are diamond-backs, but grow to a size considerably larger than those of the waters of Chesapeake Bay, which makes their meat coarser, tougher and more stringy than their Chesapeake brother, and less delicate.

These Southern terrapin command only about one-fourth or one-third of the price per dozen for those of the Chesapeake Bay. I would here remark that the diamond-back terrapin is found as far South as Texas, and as far North as the waters of Long Island Sound. The further South, the coarser and larger they grow, and the less they are worth. Mr. Dorlon's pond is a small one, and is separated into three divisions, in one division are placed the young terrapin, say 4in. long on bottom shell; in the next division those running from 7 to 9in. on bottom shell. These are the ones from which he breeds and which he sends to market. He has a convenient sand bank in which they lay from 6 to 15 eggs to each female and deposit them in the sand in the night time during the month of June. They hatch during August and the small terrapin which are about as big as a twenty-five cent piece, immediately disappear in the mud, and remain there an indefinite time. Mr. Dorlon was uncertain about this, "Thought they staid concealed about a year, but they might remain in the mud a much longer time up to several years." This is a most singular fact about these reptiles; in fact I have seen native fishermen on Chesapeake Bay, who stated that they remained in the mud until they were 3 to 5in. long on the bottom shell. The length of time it takes them to grow to 6 or 8in. long seems to be unknown, Mr. Dorlon had one in a glass jar which had carefully fed from the time it was hatched, and at the expiration of three years it was about 4 1/2in. long.

After carefully examining this breeding place I became satisfied that they could be propagated on the Chesapeake Bay, and about a year later I selected a large pond or inlet, located in Talbot county, Maryland, on a farm belonging to my kinsman. M. T. Goldsborough, Esq., and situated on the Chesapeake Bay, about six miles from Easton, Md. This pond is about one and one-half acres in extent, and has an inlet through which the tide freely flows. Its bottom is muddy and it has a sandbar on one side, which is used by the diamond backs to lay their eggs in. There is also a small stream of fresh water which empties into the pond. We inclosed the whole with a stout board fence, and included in the inclosure about one-quarter of an acre of upland. We found by experience that fresh water is a necessity to the terrapin; they cannot live without it, and the lack of it was probably the cause of the failure of the enterprises which you have already described in your columns. When all was ready in May, 1885, we placed about a thousand terrapin in the pond, males and females; of these about 200 were laying terrapin. We fed them almost entirely on hard shell crabs, of which there is an abundance in the bay. Our man in charge catches about 2,000 crabs weekly and grinds them up in an ordinary feed cutter. This machine is located on a wooden platform alongside of the pond and the moment it is heard in operation the terrapin appear in all directions, flocking to it, and seizing their food like chickens in a barnyard; in fact, they have become so tame that they readily come to the call of the keeper. We find that they come out of the mud the last of April and early in May, and immediately begin feeding and feed all summer. They bed themselves in the mud about the time of the first frost in October, and remain bedded all winter. They become very voracious just before bedding time, and of course get very fat and in the condition for their winter's nap. It may be well to say of course, that they eat nothing from the time they bed themselves in the mud until the following spring.

And now about their growth. I am sorry to say we have gained little information on this item. The second year and in fact in September of the first year, we discovered numerous young terrapin of that year's hatching. We rarely or never found them swimming around the pond with the larger terrapin; they were always found hidden under a bunch of grass or under an old board, but hidden always. I took one, and placing it in an aquarium carefully fed it all summer and it gained 3/4 in. on the bottom shell, being about 1 1/2in. the first year. I am sorry to say that it died and my belief is that its death was caused by its being subjected to the light, for I experimented with a second one, and by keeping it in a dark place all winter it emerged from the mud all right in the spring. Further experiments have demonstrated the fact that terrapin will live in a dark place all winter, but if exposed to the light will certainly die. This is but as nature made it, for when they bed themselves they seek a deep and dark hole in the mud in the river's bottom. We have dragged the pond for three successive autumns, and after carefully weighing and measuring all the terrapin have found that their growth is extremely slow, not to exceed 1/4in. per annum. It is our belief that it takes from ten to twenty years for a terrapin to grow to be the commercial size known as "counters," which the market requires to be not less than 6 1/2in. on the bottom shell. The Chesapeake Bay diamond-backs rarely exceed 8in. on bottom shell, and a terrapin of that size must be at least thirty to forty years old.

We found that the natives had attempted to keep them in pens a few feet square, but when penned up in this manner they are constantly scrambling and struggling to escape, which causes them to wear the ends of their claws off, and frequently to wear the skin off their feet. These struggles cause them to become very poor and worthless, and a penned terrapin can be detected instantly by examining its feet, and it is not wanted in the New York or Baltimore market. Our owns ponds being large with an abundance of deep water, this trouble is avoided; for the terrapin are as perfectly at home as if at large in the waters of the Bay. They seem perfectly contented and make no effort to escape, and therefore their claws or feet are never worn away or injured. In addition to the crab food we occasionally give them a few fish, and there is plenty of grass in the pond, but they seem to thrive best on crabs, which we believe is their natural food, though we have been informed that when wild they feed upon snails, worms and other small aquatic inhabitants. There is a terrapin pond located in the suburbs of Atlantic City, or it was there some four or five years ago, owned by a gentleman whose name I think is Gardner. He has made a closer study of the habits of this animal than we have been able to make, and if any further information is desired he can doubtless supply it.

It is asserted that terrapin are rapidly becoming extinct but statistics will show that about the same quantity is caught and marketed to-day, as has been for every year for many years past. The terrapin that reach the markets are generally caught by fishermen early in October, just before they disappear in the mud, and are held until marketed early in November or December. But there are certain favored spots located in the bottoms of the creeks along the Chesapeake Bay, which are known as "terrapin beds," for every year a certain number of the diamond-backs seem to go there in preference to other spots, and bed themselves for the winter. It is thought that this is caused by warm springs of water issuing from the bottom, which attracts them. At any rate these beds have a regular value, for they are certain to produce several dozen terrapin ever year. This is all I know about the terrapin. ROBT. C LOWRY.

NEW YORK, Dec. 8.