Snapping Turtles are an amazing member of the alligator family. Turtles are always considered to be a friendly and interesting animal but due to high rate of smuggling, a lot of turtle species have now become endangered and snapping turtles are one of them.
They are a species found in the North America and are mainly endangered because they are hunted for their meat by the locals of the area. There are some very interesting facts about these turtles which you need to know. Read below:
- The natural habitat area of snapping turtles is shallow freshwater like lakes, streams, ponds and estuaries of North America, Canada and Mexico. They are also found in the southeastern parts of USA, majorly covering Florida, Kentucky, Kansa and Missouri.
- They have an extremely flexible neck, a lot like a snake and hence if anyone tries to capture them forcefully, they can bite hard and they are of a large size due to which they are not really preferred as pets.
- They have a rock like shell which has ridges. The shell is thicker than that of a normal turtle.
- Their weight is around 16 kilograms usually but the alligator snapping turtle can weigh around 100 kg at a size of 80 centimeters and hence, it is again proved that they are not at all suitable as house pets.
- They have very sharp and strong jaws along with a beak shaped mouth which helps them protect themselves. Sharp claws add more to their protection weapons.
- They mainly have a carnivorous diet and they usually eat fish or other small animals in the water. They also feed on water snakes, water birds and aquatic plants. They sometimes also eat other small turtles and when they come up on the land, they eat squirrels and raccoons.
- They eat once a year, mainly between the months of April to November and the female goes away from the water to lay eggs. They dig a hole at the laying spot and cover the eggs with sand in order to heat them properly.
- They show a friendly behavior in water but become aggressive if they are taken out of water.
- The snapping turtles have a protruding tongue which looks like a worm, helping them to capture fish easily underwater.
These are the basic facts about snapping turtles which tell you about their habitat, nature and behavior.
