There are two species here: the COMMON SNAPPING TURTLE and the ALLIGATOR SNAPPING TURTLE which eat most of our pond fish.
This is the BEFORE picture ... (Click here for the AFTER shot).
Do not try this at home! - Snapping Turtles Bite!
- ROAMS THESE PARTS: SE Canada, W Rocky Mountains, throughout Mexico and as far as Equador.
- KNOWN FOR: Very mobile head and snapping beak like mouth.
- HUMAN INTERACTION AND PURPOSE: Sometimes hunted for their meat,
- LIFESPAN: 30 ish years.
- THE EXTERIOR: They have rugged muscular builds, and come up to 20 inches in length and may weigh up to 70 lbs or more. Alligator Snapping Turtles can get over 24" in length & over 200 lbs in the southern states.
- HABITAT: shallow ponds, lakes, streams & water gardens.
- DIET: Omnivores: eating plants and animals. they prey on anything they can swallow, including fish, invertebrates, frogs and other reptiles, sometimes even small birds and mammals. (and the finger of the stupid man in the picture)
- DISTANCE: Will Travel far for new habitat or laying of eggs.
- MATING: From April to November, peak in June/July. Females look for sandy soil to lay eggs. She digs a hole and lays from 30 to 80 eggs each year. They hatch within 18 weeks.
