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.