Months after the annual spring floods the creatures of the rivers and lake water such as, frogs, crawfish, turtles and other start their regenerating process.
Each of the forementioned is a food source for humans, to include the eggs of the turtle. I looked forward as a young country boy to those few days of the week when turtles deposited their eggs in the soft soil of the levee near my residence. Over the years the older people of the plantation taught the younger children the habits of various animals and the best time to catch them as food or how to locate their nest for eggs. This oral history hit its mark when the younger students were successful in their first attempts. I became an expert fast on tracing the turtle and its habit. Turtles leave the water near the midnight hour, slowly sliding up the levee to the soft spot to dig a hole in the soil. Once the hole is the right depth, the turtle deposit it eggs in the hole, cover the eggs with the soft soil. The sunlight would strikes these mounds where the eggs were deposited for maximum effect toward the hatching process. It was usually around daybreak when the turtle finished the laying process and started its slide back to the water. That is the time the young boys arrive and retrace the turtle path back to the nest. BINGO, a nest with a dozen or more eggs.
The boys often time would locate several other nests in the area. The next action is to return home, then, Turtle Eggs for Breakfast.
Each of the forementioned is a food source for humans, to include the eggs of the turtle. I looked forward as a young country boy to those few days of the week when turtles deposited their eggs in the soft soil of the levee near my residence. Over the years the older people of the plantation taught the younger children the habits of various animals and the best time to catch them as food or how to locate their nest for eggs. This oral history hit its mark when the younger students were successful in their first attempts. I became an expert fast on tracing the turtle and its habit. Turtles leave the water near the midnight hour, slowly sliding up the levee to the soft spot to dig a hole in the soil. Once the hole is the right depth, the turtle deposit it eggs in the hole, cover the eggs with the soft soil. The sunlight would strikes these mounds where the eggs were deposited for maximum effect toward the hatching process. It was usually around daybreak when the turtle finished the laying process and started its slide back to the water. That is the time the young boys arrive and retrace the turtle path back to the nest. BINGO, a nest with a dozen or more eggs.
The boys often time would locate several other nests in the area. The next action is to return home, then, Turtle Eggs for Breakfast.
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