Chelodina rugosa leave only a small hole for ventilation visible from the surface ; they will remain underground and wait for the flooding monsoons during Kunumeleng ( beginning November or December ) before they emerge . Wurrkeng begins the targetted turtle-hunting season . Local families will devote entire days hunting in the soil and vegetation along the banks of billabongs and on the drying floodplains for Ngalmangiyi . Turtles are not easy to find , as the muddy soil they prefer can be quite deep and tangled with water plants that may be much taller than the average person . In addition to the challenges of their preferred terrain , there is the ever-present threat of large crocodiles and snakes . It is interesting to note that Saltwater Crocodiles employ the same tactics as the turtles when stuck in a drying location . They will bury themselves in the mud until the rains return , with nothing more than their eyes and nostrils visible . Turtle hunters do occasionally encounter a toothy surprise while hunting in the later months of the dry season . Unfortunately for the crocodile , it will usually be killed for the tail meat or captured as a pet .
To combat these unwelcome encounters and to make hunting easier , as soon as conditions permit , the grass is burnt around the billabongs and on the floodplains . Much to the bane of many residents the community can be shrouded in smoke for days or even weeks at a time when fires burn out of control . Clearing the land does make hunting somewhat easier but can have a disastrous impact on the turtles . Removing the protective layers of vegetation exposes the ground to the baking sun and increases evaporation . This can result in turtles dying from dehydration and heat stress while still buried below the surface and makes them more susceptible to predators such as wild pigs .
Hunters arm themselves with a kubba ( goopah ) before taking to the turtle grounds . These are made from a length of reinforcing bar , or similar material , attached to a wooden handle ( usually taken from the young branches of the Milkwood tree , as they have a soft centre which is ideal for insertion of the metal rod ). Traditional kubbas were simply a thin , sharpened hardwood shaft prior to the days of metal . The kubba is stabbed in and out of soil in the likely-looking areas along the banks of the billabongs or on the cleared floodplain . A hunter knows when a turtle has been discovered by the ‘ tap tap ’ sound the steel makes when striking the shell . Once a turtle is identified , the hunter will then hold it down with their kubba , if escape is possible , and dig it out of the mud by hand .
A fifth , very different species of freshwater turtle is also found around Gunbalanya . The large Pig-nosed or Fly River Turtles ( Carretochelys insculpta , known locally as Warradjan ) are a delicacy to Bininj people ; growing to a carapace length of 700mm they yield a significant amount of food . Warradjan was comparatively recently introduced to Australian science when depictions were found in rock art in the West Arnhem Region during mineral survey expeditions . Little is understood of this species , which is known to inhabit the Alligator and Daly River systems , although they are likely to be far more widespread , particularly to the east . They do not appear to be uncommon around the West Arnhem Region and are regularly spotted in the run-off streams and channels of the East Alligator floodplain while in flood . Despite the excitement of the Bininj when they are captured , Warradjan are not often targetted . During Bankerreng they are sometimes caught as by-catch in the permanent billabongs and rivers by people fishing with bait and line . However , like other aquatic and semiaquatic reptiles , they will bury themselves in the muddy soil of drying billabongs . Bininj people sometimes capture them while hunting Ngalmangiyi with a kubba during Kurrung ( the hot dry season around October ).
Cooking and eating Ngalmangiyi and Ngardderrhwo is quite an experience . Often they are cooked and eaten on the spot but they can be stored live for long periods of time . Turtles are killed by wringing their necks , and witnessing this event can be quite confronting for people who do not see turtles as a food source or are not accustomed to killing their own food . The neck is gripped tightly in one hand and the head in the other ; the head is then bent backwards , parallel to the neck , until a ‘ click ’ is heard , indicating that the neck has been broken . Like any animal in its death throes , nerves fire and the legs flail around for some time .
Cooking is over an open fire , either using a grill plate or directly on the flames and coals . Rare to medium rare is the preference for this meat . When the blood and fluid ceases to seep out of the join between the neck and the shell , the turtle is considered cooked . To access the content of the turtle , the underside of the shell is broken away , exposing the meat and gut . With the exception of the bones and shell , everything is eaten including all of the offal and juices . The meat is similar in colour to pork and very stringy , while the fat is soft and yellow in colour . A favourite for most people is the oesophagus from the neck ; it is a chewy white flesh similar in appearance to calamari . As off-putting as it sounds , bread or damper dipped in the juices that pool in the shell is considered a delicacy .
Turtles have a very strong flavour and odour . The taste of the flesh is quite muddy and fishy , with its own distinct underlying flavour , unlike anything that would be encountered in a western diet . After consumption the smell may stay on a person , sometimes for days , as it seeps out of their pores . This is not unique to turtles , as many foods will have some effect on a person ’ s body odour . Because Ngalmangiyi and Ngardderrhwo have such a distinct smell , people who are not used to eating turtles will find it quite noticeable if they interact with someone who has consumed them recently .
In peak hunting season there can be hundreds of people dotted across the vast floodplain at the foot of Gunbalanya ; many in little humpies or beneath the shady trees with camp fires cooking their catch . Generations have grown up singing songs and playing games based on this practice . Turtle hunting has been integrated into educational games and has even been mentioned in bestselling