Snapping Turtles: Chelydridae

Physical characteristics: The snapping turtle, or snapper, is a fairly large member of this family. The upper shell is up to 19.3 inches (49 centimeters) in length. The shell is dark, usually black to greenish-brown, and frequently covered with green, slimy algae (AL-jee), or plantlike growths. The upper shell and the long tail have a series of ridges. The shell ridges become less and less noticeable as the animal ages. Snapping turtles have large heads with a hook on the upper jaw.

Geographic range: Snapping turtles live in North America, Central America, and South America, from southern Canada to Ecuador.

During the breeding season, the female snapping turtle digs a hole on land. There, she lays up to 109 round eggs and buries them. The outdoor temperature controls the number of males and females in each batch of eggs. (E. R. Degginger/Bruce Coleman, Inc. Reproduced by permission.)

Habitat: These turtles typically live in plant-filled, shallow, calm waters with mucky bottoms. Most make their homes in freshwater areas, but some live quite well in somewhat salty waters.

Diet: Like most members of this family, the snapping turtle eats mostly meat. It is not a picky eater. Snapping turtles will eat earthworms and leeches; clams; insects and spiders; frog eggs, tadpoles, and adult frogs; reptiles, including other turtles; ducklings and other small birds; small mammals; and almost any dead animal they come across. Plants are not uncommon, and some populations of turtles even live by eating only plants.

Behavior and reproduction: Despite its usually slow walking speed on land, this turtle is amazingly swift when it comes to striking out with its powerful jaws to grab a passing animal as a meal or to defend itself against a large attacking animal or a person who is just a bit too curious. With its long neck, this turtle can swing its head forward, sideways, and backward almost half as far as it is long, and its powerful jaws can deliver a nasty bite to a person's hand or fingers.

For the most part, the snapping turtle stays in the water, where it spends most of its time sunbathing or hunting for food. To sunbathe, or "bask," the turtles float in warm water near or at the surface. Rarely, a snapper will bask on shore on a log or rock. They often hunt by hiding in the muddy bottom to wait for a tasty treat, like a fish or tadpole, to swim by. They also hunt by slowly walking along the water bottom and looking for their next meal. Turtles living in warmer climates are active day and night and all year long. Those living in cooler, northern areas are mostly active early and late in the day and spend the colder months buried underwater in the mucky bottom.

Mating season runs from spring to fall. Some males may sway their heads in front of females to attract them, but usually the males skip courtship altogether. Females lay one batch of eggs a year. Sometimes they make their nests, which are just holes they dig in the ground, close to the water, but they also may travel great distances, in some cases nearly 10 miles (16 kilometers). Females can lay six to 109 round, white eggs; they typically lay about thirty-two eggs per nest. The eggs hatch in about seventy-five to ninety-five days, but sometimes they hatch in as little as two months or as much as six months. Nest temperature controls the sex of the newly hatched young turtles. High and low temperatures produce females, and moderate temperatures produce males. Because a female can lay so many eggs at a time and the nest is so large, some parts of the nest may be warmer or cooler than others. This often means that females will hatch from one part of the nest and males from another.

Snapping turtles and people: Humans hunt snapping turtles for their meat. Many turtles also die each year from being hit by cars as they cross roads to move from a water hole to a nesting site and back.

Conservation status: These turtles are not threatened, although many snapping turtle eggs are destroyed each year when raccoons and other mammals dig up the freshly laid nests and eat the eggs. ∎