“Terrapin Town” excerpts – DBTs “come a-running” at feeding time
- This topic has 1 reply, 1 voice, and was last updated 24 years, 7 months ago by
.
-
Posts
-
Here are some excerpts from the October 1947 “Nature” magazine article on the US Fishery Station’s captive breeding program at Beaufort, NC: By 1914, the percentage of eggs hatched was 90.6. “Now the hatchery is producing from 10,000 to nearly 17,000 young each year, with a brood stock of about 600 males and 2,000 females. During the summer breeding season of 1946, a total hatch of 12,845 young was obtained in spite of damaging rainfall during the incubation period.” “The sights of ‘Terrapin Town’ attract more than 10,000 visitors annually to the Beaufort station. Regular excursion groups of students from high schools and colleges, often from distant points, visit the station to obtain first-hand information on the life history of terrapins, as well as to view the aquarium, museum room, and the six outdoor exhibit pools where large sea turtles, sharks, stingrays, and alligators are displayed.” “The Station’s main attraction for visitors – the concrete breeding pens, bedded with sand and used for the propagation of the young terrapins – are arranged along the shores of the island and so located that they are flushed by every tide. Clean water is highly essential in terrapin rearing. The sides of the pens are of smooth concrete to keep these agile animals from escaping.” “Terrapin activites are at their height during the summer months when the animals are not hibernating and one of the highlights of a visit to “Terrapin Town” is watching the animals at feeding time. Diamond-backs learn quickly to associate certain sounds with the advent of food, and when the station attendant whacks the tin fish with a shovel, the terrapins in the breeding pens come a-running. The staple food is scrap fish, with an occasional feeding of blue crabs or fiddlers.” I can just picture those terrapins come a-runnin!!! Anyone ever hear from someone who visited the station? Todd in Texas
Oops. Left out the word “bucket” after tin, before fish.
- The forum ‘Diamondback Terrapins’ is closed to new topics and replies.