Camp Stories – Big Moe
There are more stories about
Big Mo the turtle than turtles in Stratton Lake. In the early days of Camp Waupaca either
Skipper or Joe would travel with the campers on the train that took them home. As Skipper sometimes told stories at camp
fires at the Rosen Bowl, I think he was the person who invented Big Moe. Whoever first told the story it was told on a
train heading south.
Big Moe
The life of Big Moe started
the first year there were campers at Camp Waupaca. One day at the Old Beach swimmers saw the
beach sand move in one spot. The spot
was about 12 inches in diameter and it looked like something was trying to dig
itself out. The boys who first saw the
sand move wanted to take sticks and bash whatever might be trying to escape
from the sand. The counselor who was on
life guard duty was a college student who was studying wild life and thought he
knew what would emerge from the sand.
The life guard assured the campers that was there would not hurt them.
The life guard called to the
swimmers that there was something coming out of the beach that they might like
to see. The boys gathered around in a
circle as some small heads emerged. The
heads were on baby turtles just hatching from the eggs that their mother has
buried in the spring. When the baby
turtles scrambled out on the sand they were about the size of a half
dollar. There were 26 miniature turtles
heading to the lake as fast as their legs could carry them.
One of the little turtles was
falling behind the group and looked like he was having trouble. A camper picked it up and asked the life
guard if he could keep it. The guard
told him it was a baby snapping turtle.
He would grow into a turtle that could bit off a finger, but if the
campers wanted he thought that they could keep it until the end of camp. So, an old wash tub that was found in the Red
Barn became the little turtle's home for the rest of the summer camp season.
The bottom of the tub was
covered with sand and a shallow bowl filled with water made a home for the
turtle. The next problem to solve was
what to name the turtle. Snapper was the
first name suggested as the turtle would snap at twigs that were put in front
of it. Laker, Swim Buoy, Water Demon,
Lonesome George, and many other names were suggested. Somehow the name that had the most votes was
Moe. No one is sure why that name was
selected, but Moe became the name of the turtle.
Baby turtles eat a lot of
aquatic animals and often heads would shoot out with a lighting movement so
their mouth could catch fish. Until they
grew their main diet is minnows and fish eggs.
So, when a camper caught a small fish, they would cut it into small
pieces and watch Moe snap into them. By
placing the fish pieces a distance from his face it was fun to watch him stick
his head out lighting fast to snap up the food.
They knew that to put a finger in front of Moe would be dangerous. The
boys enjoyed feeding Moe and he grew fast.
Every camper knew that the
last day of camp they would have to put Moe in the lake. The boy who picked Moe up at the Old Beach
was particularly sad to turn Moe out on his own. He was sure that he would never see the pet
again or if he did he would not recognize him.
He told this to another camper and they came up with an idea of how Moe
would be recognized in the future. They
would brand him with an “M”.
When it was time to let Moe go
into the lake, one boy put a stick in front of Moe. He snapped it tight in his jaws. As long as the boy kept pressure on the stick
Moe would not let go. The other boy with
a very sharp knife cut a large M on the back of the shell. Then they him to the Old Beach and watched as
Moe as he slowly swam off to freedom.
The next summer when campers
were out fishing they often saw a turtle following their row boat. It was a snapping turtle that was larger than
Moe when he was released. This turtle
was about the size of a six in frying pan.
This turtle had a habit of snapping at fish that the campers were
reeling in. He usually took a bit out of
the fish. Several campers swore that
they could see an “M” on his back. As
this turtle was the only turtle with an M carved into its back it had to be
Mo. Now he was not so small so the
Legend of Big Moe began.
The snapping turtle that
followed campers as they fished and bit their catches was there summer after
summer. Each summer the reports of Big
Moe told of a larger Big Moe from the year before. They could always see the M on his back when
he swam close to the boat. It excited
campers that they had seen the famous Big Moe and frightened them because of
his size. They were swimming “Lakers”
with a turtle large enough to chop off a hand or foot. No one ever saw Big Moe except when they were
fishing.
As Big Moe got bigger he ate
more of the fish on a camper's fish line.
They were reeling in a monster fish and wham there was a huge tug on the
line. After that tug the line went
slack. When the hook came out of the
water it was bare. The size of Big Moe
was said to be at least three to five feet in diameter. When seen up close the report may even have
been that Big Moe was even larger. There
is no doubt that the fish the campers were losing were also getting bigger.
I am sure that you have heard
that fisher people exaggerate size of fish that break off their line. As these tales are from good and honest Camp
Waupaca campers, you can assume that the lost fish were much bigger than
reported.
Changed with the Times
This is an early version of
Big Moe. Later counselors made Big Moe a
monster that bit oars in two and the ends off from water skis. He turned over canoes in the Olympics and the
Blue and White Wars. Big Moe hid in the
reeds in wait for victims. The names of
counselors who braved the beast to drive him away from a camper to save him
were added to some tails. I am sure that
Skipper would never have made Big Moe dangerous to a camper.