Page 22 - West Virgina 811 Magazine 2018 Issue 4

e and Dillard called ln Lhe flzsl plans, why would you have to swrng Lhc paddle at Lhe lurlle m an
en. alligatm lurlles. a Inna! rope |n lhe boat? effurl to eonurnee hun to swim north,
tsumc ftulko ealled ‘am And tn the wand ptam who mtd when mtthe nudsl of a mighty swing.
oggcx reads. All l knnw hrs [set slapped out from under hnn and
_ . .-land up and (Wu! a rope around and
for sure was that lhey were big old out of lhe boat he tell. Wozse vcl, he fell
Lhmw u without ialllng out ui the hoav —
turtles you'd see ~wlmm|ng around In mm (112 nver where Lhc aioremsnlmncd
Lhe Sallnc Raver ln soulhwesl Arkan.sr1~. And |n the tlurd plaee, at you eould, alllgdlox tunle was.
It seemed ubv|uu~ to a 10 year old boy why In the name of common sense Mutt tom know about km Watkmg
Lhal you would not want to catch one would anybody wanl to catch the
. , . . on watnr And some have read (hr:
and espeelallv not pet one of them I world s hlggesl alligator turtle In the ,

— account ufPetnr s shorl walk Buuhc
had already shook hand~ wuh lol. of firs! plain? t tk_ d P __ H tt t ttt _
four-fingnmd older folk~ around tlm D at Lt‘ D tt d t (f ’ t °‘t‘3“,;‘t‘ d°F “k” t‘‘_ ttt
Hm wttttt Wt Wm Puttmg Dtttm“ r rnenltrton at u Wu; rtar (lat tttaydm et youtk. ar tne sdwttast hr:
old fldlbmlom boat |n Lhe rwer, lhrs “‘“‘t‘‘ ‘‘’‘t: ‘ ‘“""“°P°d f tt“ bjgst“ t"tk ‘;t‘“"t °t’t“r“ttt °‘:tt‘”’“ 3 t ‘“ “
Otttttuy Mttng Dttttmtmtksatdto met :21: mg“! I:b::pca1;:unbel.s ea , km wa e a o a er an r eer.
whrle adyuatlng his enp wuh two fingers d"°‘tt Z‘ “‘t’t't“H °“‘t 5”‘ “’ "if well Lhc tuztll: dld finally go on about
and a nub, that |i”on2 of them old if“ “’ tt ‘”t:°°‘ ' tt°‘” ‘F :“t:‘“5tf “’ whaleuerlunles do, lhe boaldld eome
loggerhends ever bllyuu, «hey wouldn't ‘W “t‘t‘t“t "N “" ° ‘°_"‘ B‘ “at my lo msl on Ihl:br1nkner1rwhl:n:Dlllr1xd
nun loose 'nl |tt1\undL‘red" l looked t‘j"P“ ‘_ "ttt “‘t:”’"‘t’"";t“"t“5_ 3“ ~mpped off this watnr onto dzy land. we
up and ~um enough, rhere wasn't a tt‘t$5°“ * t “fit 3’ "‘t “t “‘ “ “E t““ pulled the boat on lhe bank and walked
tluudln lhe sky. l reasoned even then tt ° WP‘ ““ ‘h P“ “‘ 3’ ‘“"““ “‘ Lhc ~lmn dlslancn tu hl~ house Ihmugll
that nxpcuence .-o.ne..n.e.- pmccdnd t:tst<t:"ft'§;f_*e glfljgagjftmgvv-"3 Lhc woods. The only wund~ lmard were
wlsdum. ’ * ‘ * * Lhl: blxd~, the nccmlonal barkmg of a
ttttt ante tn tttt bottom at Dtttatttfi flat He began to ~w|m away, pullmg the soutlnelttantdl the aquIJundg(\l)f D|llr1xtd’s
bottom boat ttttatmg dawn tttt Hm Eoaé after um. Dtlllard was Itrylfigdaa twettsoeb. a‘lpplng up an own ln u~
lovvmd hrs house. we were throwing a t‘.“d ‘° ‘;“‘°"“ ““ 1"‘ “t“t‘ ‘“ " ““ ‘“ °° "
hne |n lhe Wale: from urne to ume, but "“ the“ ‘F’ “’t’f’P‘ "“' ‘?"’tf‘“5tt Wllhoutbmaklng slnde or turning
mo~tly Dlllazd was pnmlmg out the “Y ‘"5 ;t""° ‘ ‘“ $“t‘E““5 *‘ “‘ ‘Est “ d around, Dlllard sold to me an lf [0 make
planes where he had caught toe saelo fl’? “gm ‘tPtP‘“$ " "tjw t‘““° d tt“’t sense of what had ,usl happened, ”Now
full of rash on other sueh lnps. b‘PP:dt jtt °“$tt:°Ft‘“' CA‘ “PP” tt “‘ lei t1u~ be a lesson to you "

lg o u e ln e aee. ppamn y,

lwas gusl lying them lhtznmg to unroplng a lurlle h more lrntaling than ”W}uch lna~on7” l nsleed

his great slones, watching squmels mplng a null: so, lhe lurlle slopped

nlnmng around on the bank tlunklng wlllmmmg away from lhe boat and H“ "°P"°d' ‘“"‘“.d "“’“"d ““d hm‘

t . 1, h , . down to look rne In the eyes He

o rnyse I at we ought to be talklng ~wr1rn drreelly |n the dlmttmn of the h . tt t K t d ,,D , t 11
about hunting lnslead of ashrng tauac uihI~lrritr1tion Now, I didn’l °‘“P ““‘“ > “P ‘° 't °" ‘ 2‘ 2“, “W
loday, when Dlllard, In a hushed but hear rnusle playing, but lhaue a grealer “ ‘“"“‘ ’“P°tf‘,,*t"’t‘“t°t‘ “"3 Y"t‘t‘t 4°“ ' d
uzgcnl to me, "Get my lanai apprecmlmn for he ”]aws" thnmc song tfatntf *° “K -d " ft“ “ft ct “$1 /
rope, we spoued lhe world's lnggesl t E 9" t‘t“’"“ “'°““ ““ ° °‘ ‘“
atttgatttttutttt ,, Tmlblg old alllgatnrlunlrs seemed toward orne lnodded ulznlly. Drllard
lnlenl on rating lhe boat one lane at a was a very wrse rnan Expsrmnuz was

well of eourse, l got Lhe rope. But |n the t|me.D1lImd hollered, "CW6 rne Lhc dnfimtely nnIwr1~tv:d on hun. .

so yuan uncc the gmat turtle sighting. paddle! Civv: rne Lhe pr1ddlcV" He bcgan

I've been made to wonder a few (lungs

2a . wgsr Vlrglnln E11 2D1£,lssue A