814-LancMter Farming, Saturday, October 4,1986
Wild Horse And Burro Adoption Center Finds Homes For 70 Animals
BY SALLY BAK
Lancaster County
Correspondent
LEWISBERRY - Over 70
burros and horses were available
for adoption last week at the
Northeast Wild Horse and Burro
Adoption Center in Lewisberry.
Many of the those who visited
during a special two-day open
house went home with a new horse
or burro to love—and to tame.
The horses and burros, trucked
here from the western part of the
country, are part of a continuing
resource management plan by the
Department of the Interior.
Adoption is a partial solution to the
problem of overpopulation among
the wild herds that roam public
rangelands.
Curt Jones, director of the
Eastern States Office of the
Bureau of Land Management,
explains, “Nothing can compete
with them in the wild.” Charlie
Most, chief of public affairs, adds,
“They have no natural enemies.”
However, the animals must
share the limited forage and water
with other native wildlife and their
numbers are often more than the
land can support.
Because of this, the animals,
who are very prolific, are gathered
in an “ongoing process.” Horses
come primarily from Nevada,
Wyoming, Oregon and California.
Horses coming from Nevada are
traditionally the smallest because
of genetics and the pressure on the
available resources. They are
descendants of the Spanish bred
Turtle Soup
BY SALLY BAIR
Lancaster Co. Correspondent
LEWISBERRY - Even as a
child James Payne admits that he
“always liked to throw something
together to eat. Even if it didn’t
look good, I ate it.”
Last Saturday, Payne, known to
his friends as “Mike,” was
throwing together his annual batch
of turtle soup, a delicacy which has
become something of a staple at
the Wild Horse and Burro Open
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. ayne adds the ground turtle meat to the soup as it
nears completion. The total process takes approximately 5
hours.
horses. Jones notes, “Pure
Mustangs are the size of Nevada
horses.” Those horses coming
from Montana and Wyoming
generally are somewhat larger in
size.
The burros are corraled mostly
from Arizona and California, and
while the horses are available for
adoption year round, burros are
not, Jones says, “This will be the
last of the burros for the year.”
Surprisingly, it is the burros for
whom demand is the largest. Jones
says many burro adopters are
older people who may be retired
and own some land and want them
for a pet. He added, “Some truck
farmers want burros because they
can plant the rows closer together
and the burros won’t step on the
crops.”
Burros are also useful to some
sheep farmers because they are
“very protective” and will keep
away wild dogs and coyotes.
Jones notes that there is a
waiting list for burros. Information
distributed also notes that the
Department of the Interior prefers
to have the burros adopted in
pairs. Burros can be adopted for
$75 whereas the adoption fee for
horses is $125. This fee covers the
cost of roundup, inoculations,
veterinary care and other ex
penses of the program.
Jones said that applicants for
adoption are screened and the title
is not given to them until after a
successful first year. People are
allowed to adopt up to four animals
in one year. He said, “Most are
meisseur Stem Tasty Delicacy
House on the Goodlander Ranch
near Lewisberry.
While Payne takes the job
seriously enough, he actually is
quite casual in putting together the
ingredients. He said that he’s been
making the soup himself for about
20 years, but it’s only in the last six
years that he wrote down the
recipe.
When preparing soup, you want
to have plenty of time, especially
over the open fire which is Payne’s
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These are some of the 70 burros that were offered for adoption at the Wild Horse and
Burro Adoption Center at Lewisberry last Saturday. They prefer the burros be adopted
in pairs.
good folks. Our adopters feel a
sense of commitment. It’s
refreshing to have that kind of
public support.”
Most also notes that few people
ever request that the government
take back on animal. In fact, many
people who have worked with both
domestic and wild horses find the
wild horses easier to work with.
Jones says, “They’ve been raised
in the wild, and if you are good with
them, kind and gentle, they are
like a dog. They become very
loyal. Most people do a great job
with them.”
preferred way of doing it. Payne
says, “I think anything tastes
better when it’s made over the
open fire. It has a better taste.”
Actually, the other reason
making the soup takes time is the
turtle catching. Some of the eight
turtles for this year’s soup were
caught in mid-August; they all
were caught on the pond on the
property. Payne makes it sound
simple to catch them you tie
some bait on a line with a hook,
leave it overnight and get your
turtle the next morning.
George Craker, who called
himself a “migrant worker” as he
helped with some of the vegetable
chopping this year, said jokingly,
“Then you throw away the turtle
and keep the bait.”
Payne has a technique for
preparing the turtles for cooking,
and says the process takes him
about Va hour. The next step is
cooking the meat in water until the
meat is tender and ready to fall off
the bones. Once cooked, it is
removed from the broth, carefully
picked off the bones and put
through a grinder.
He said, “All the meat on a turtle
is good. The neck meat is all white
meat.”
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As the turtles cook, Payne slowly
works at chopping the rest of the
ingredients. This year he had some
good help in Craker and Gene
Hetrick, so the chopping got done
more quickly. Hetrick says dryly,
“He never had such experienced
help before.” He adds, “The pay’s
very good.” Craker deadpans, “A
guy could get pretty proficient at
this.”
They cut the carrots, celery,
onions and potatoes into small
pieces and add the ingredients as
they are cut to the steaming broth.
Hetrick takes time to stir the soup
occasionally, and both men take a
break to chop wood to keep the fire
going.
Observers stop and ask what the
men are doing. Others, those in the
know, begin saying, “When will it
be ready to eat?” Someone asks,
“Is it going to be as good as last
year?” Without hesitation and with
a laugh, Payne replies, “Better.”
One little girl looked in and asked
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The program has been in effect
for about 10 years, though it has
only been in die last four that the
adoption centers have been
established. During that time
about 65,000 burros and horses
have been relocated, with about 40
to 45 percent of them being adopted
east of the Mississippi.
In the west the animals are
usually adopted right after the
round-up on public lands. Jones
concluded, “There is an awful lot
of interest in the program.” In
terest in the East is different from
the West because there they see
Gene Hetrick takes a turn stirring the turtle soup as it
cooks over an open fire.
where the turtle was. When asked
if she’d try the soup she
disgustedly said ‘no’ and moved
away. One woman stopped and told
Payne how she makes her turtle
soup, adding just corn.
As noon approaches Payne
decides it’s tune to taste the
product. He admits that he flavors
it to his taste which may not suit
others. But he figures they can
always add salt and pepper.
“Some people like more than I do.
If they want more, they’ll have to
put it in. You can’t suit
everybody.”
Just before pronouncing it
HP-
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the animals as a nuisance.
Jones believes this program’s
uniqueness builds bridges for the
department and has garnered a lot
of support from the states. This
working together is beneficial to
everyone involved.
About 30 to 50 animals are on
hand at the adoption center around
the year, and new shipments come
in periodically. Often “satellite”
programs are held and horses and
burros will be taken to temporary
shelters in other states to take
them close to the potential adop
ters.
,«jp
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ready, Payne says, “I think I got it
all in. I’d better check.” Then he
takes out the newly written recipe
and makes sure everything has
been added. He realizes he almost
forgot the hard cooked eggs, and
quickly mashes them and puts
them in the boiling soup.
The whole process takes about 5
hours, and when the soup is ready
it is sold in about one hour. Payne
remarked proudly, “One year it
was gone in about 40 minutes.”
Before giving the soup over to
the food stand to sell, Payne ladles
some into large containers to take
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