FUN FACTS
- Common Snapping Turtle’s scientific name is Chelydra serpentina. …
- They have powerful jaws and have an average bite force of 209 N. …
- The Common Snapping turtle is an aquatic turtle that prefers slow-moving, shallow bodies of water with muddy bottoms, which give them places to hide.
Conservation Status
Least Concern
Description
Snapping turtles are widespread in Connecticut. Their ability to adapt to people and the state’s changing landscape has made them evolutionarily successful. Snapping turtles can even be found in polluted waters and urban wetlands, although populations in these habitats may not be robust.
Range
Snapping turtles range across the eastern United States to the Rocky Mountains, from southern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, and into Central America. They have been introduced in some western states.
Description
Connecticut’s largest freshwater turtle is easily recognized by its dark carapace (upper shell) with a deeply serrated back margin, and a small plastron (bottom shell) that does not completely cover all of the animal’s flesh. Three low keels (or ridges) on the carapace of younger turtles often become obscure as the turtle matures. The carapace measures 8-12 inches on an average adult, and the turtles can weigh between 10-35 pounds. The carapace can vary in color, from green to brown to black; sometimes it is covered with moss. Snapping turtles have a long tail, often measuring as long or longer than the carapace, that is covered with bony plates. They also have a large head, long neck, and a sharp, hooked upper jaw. This hard beak has a rough cutting edge that is used for tearing food.
Habitat and Diet
Snapping turtles are almost entirely aquatic and can be found in a wide variety of aquatic habitats, preferably with slow-moving water and a soft muddy or sandy bottom. They inhabit almost any permanent or semi-permanent body of water, including marshes, creeks, swamps, bogs, pools, lakes, streams, rivers, and impoundments. Snapping turtles can tolerate brackish water (mixture of seawater and fresh water).
As omnivores, snapping turtles feed on plants, insects, spiders, worms, fish, frogs, small turtles, snakes, birds, crayfish, small mammals, and carrion. Plant matter accounts for about a third of the diet. Young turtles will forage for food, but older turtles often hang motionless in the water and ambush their prey by lunging forward with the head at high speed and powerful jaws to seize prey.
Life History
Sexual maturity has more to do with size than age. Turtles are ready to mate when their carapace measures about 8 inches. The active season is from April through November, with most of the nesting in southern New England occurring in late May through June. Snapping turtles rarely leave their aquatic habitat except during the breeding season, at which time females travel great distances in search of a place to dig a nest and lay eggs. Some turtles have been found as far as a mile from the nearest water source. Selected nest sites include banks, lawns, gardens, road embankments, and sometimes muskrat burrows.
One clutch of eggs is laid in May or June. With powerful hind legs, the female digs a shallow bowl-shaped nest in a well-drained, sunny location. Over a period of several hours, she lays approximately 20 to 40 creamy white, ping-pong ball-sized eggs. After covering the eggs, the female returns to the water, leaving the eggs and hatchlings to fend for themselves. Turtle nests are often preyed upon by raccoons, skunks, and crows. As much as 90% of the nests are annually destroyed by predators.
Snapping turtles have temperature-dependent sex determination. Eggs maintained at 68°F produce only females; eggs maintained at 70-72°F produce both male and female turtles; and those incubated at 73-75°F produce only males.
Hatching takes approximately 80 to 90 days, but the hatch date can vary depending on temperature and other environmental conditions. Generally, hatchlings emerge from their leathery egg in August through October by using a small egg tooth to break open the shell. When the young hatch, they dig out of the nest and instinctively head to water. Young at hatching are about an inch long with soft shells and they must make it to water without being preyed upon by raccoons, skunks, foxes, dogs, birds, and snakes. When they reach water, the young turtles may be taken by fish and other snapping turtles. Once the turtles have grown some and their shells harden, they are virtually predator-free.
Interesting Facts
Snapping turtles are nocturnal and spend most of the time underwater, lying on the bottom of the waterbody. Their dark-colored skin and moss-covered shell enables the turtles to lie in wait and ambush their prey. Usually docile in water, snapping turtles can be aggressive during the breeding season when they are found traveling across land. This is usually when most people encounter snapping turtles. If you find a snapping turtle in your yard, treat it with the respect it deserves. Snapping turtles have powerful, sharp jaws. Keep children and pets away from the turtle until it has finished laying its eggs and has left the area.
Countless turtles are killed or injured on roads during their terrestrial treks. The presence of a large turtle on a busy road can be a safety hazard for motorists. By driving defensively and keeping alert to conditions on the road, motorists should be able to avoid hitting a turtle.
Snapping turtles should never be picked up by their tails as this can damage the animal’s vertebral column and tail, not to mention the human who is in danger of being bitten. Because snapping turtles can be slimy and heavy, the Wildlife Division does not recommend that anyone manually pick them up.
Unlike most other turtles, snapping turtles rarely bask on land, but instead bask on the water’s surface. They survive winters in Connecticut by hibernating when temperatures dip below 41°F. They burrow into mud and leaf debris in shallow water or under logs and overhanging banks. After emerging from hibernation, turtles begin feeding and searching for mates.
Snapping turtles generally reach maturity at 8 to 10 years and can live up to 40 years or more. They typically occupy home ranges of 4 to 22 acres, depending on the size of the wetland. Snapping turtles rarely leave their aquatic habitat except during the breeding season or to reach new habitat to avoid overcrowding, pollution, and habitat destruction/desiccation.
The DEEP Wildlife Division does not keep records of the largest or heaviest snapping turtles in the state as the agency recommends that these turtles not be handled.
In many areas of the United States and other parts of the world, people relish snapping turtle meat in soups and stews. However, these turtles can potentially concentrate environmental contaminates and toxic chemicals such as PCBs in their flesh and could pose a health concern if consumed in large quantities.
Snapping turtles can be harvested in Connecticut. Regulations passed in 2013 and updated in 2016 established specific protections for snapping turtles by designating seasons, size/bag limits, gear restrictions, and other measures designed to ensure the long-term viability of Connecticut turtle populations. Turtle eggs cannot be taken and turtle nests cannot be disturbed without DEEP authorization. In 2018, the commercial trade of snapping turtles was prohibited.
Although Common snapping turtles are listed as a species of least concern, anthropogenic factors still may have major effects on populations. Decades of road mortality may cause severe population decline in common snapping turtle populations present in urbanized wetlands.
Physical Description
Tigers have reddish-orange coats with prominent black stripes, white bellies and
white spots on their ears. Like a human fingerprint, no two tigers have the exact
same markings. Because of this, researchers can use stripe patterns to identify
different individuals when studying tigers in the wild. Tigers are powerful hunters
with sharp teeth, strong jaws and agile bodies. They are the largest terrestrial
mammal whose diet consists entirely of meat. The tiger’s closest relative is the lion.
In fact, without fur, it is difficult to distinguish a tiger from a lion.
Size
Tigers are the largest cat species in the world, and the Amur tiger is the largest
subspecies with males weighing up to 660 pounds (300 kilograms) and measuring 10
feet (3 meters). Sumatran tigers are the smallest subspecies, maxing out at 310
pounds (140 kilograms) and 8 feet (2.4 meters). Female tigers of all subspecies tend
to be smaller than their male counterparts.
Native Habitat
Historically, tigers existed throughout much of Eastern and Southern Asia, as well as
in parts of Central and Western Asia and the Middle East, surrounding the Caspian
Sea. Their range has diminished significantly as human populations have expanded.
Itis believed they currently occupy just 7 percent of their historic range.
Presently, tigers are found in a variety of habitats across South and Southeast Asia,
China and Eastern Russia. They thrive in temperate, tropical or evergreen forests,
mangrove swamps and grasslands. Amur tigers are primarily found in Far-East
Russia, although there are small populations across the border into China and
potentially North Korea. Sumatran tigers are found only on the Indonesian island of
Sumatra. A tiger’s range within these regions is determined by the availability of
prey.
Communication
Despite their solitary nature, communication is a very important part of tigers’
behavioral ecology. They communicate through vocalizations, such as roaring,
grunting and chuffing, and through signals, such as scent marking and scratches on
trees. Tigers are fiercely territorial animals, so these signals are particularly
important to communicating where one tiger’s home range ends and another’s
begins.
Food/Eating Habits
Tigers are solitary ambush predators that rely on stealth and strength to take down
prey. These apex predators primarily hunt large ungulates, such as wild boar and
deer, but are also known to consume monkeys, buffalo, sloth bears, leopards and
even crocodiles. When tigers are found in close proximity to humans, they may also
feed on domestic animals, such as cattle or goats. Tigers are adept swimmers and
have even been recorded hunting in the wild.
These powerful cats hunt primarily at night, using sight and sound to identify prey.
Their striped coats help them blend into their surroundings, where they lie in wait for
prey to pass by. At the opportune moment, tigers pounce on their prey, take it to the
ground and finish the kill by breaking or biting the neck. Tigers hunt about once a
week and consume as much as 75 pounds (34 kilograms) of food in one night.
At the Zoo, tigers eat ground beef, and their diet is supplemented with enrichment
items each week. They receive knucklebones or cow femurs twice a week and rabbits
once a week to exercise their jaws and keep their teeth healthy.
Social Structure
Tigers are solitary creatures, except when mating or raising young. Cubs stay with
their mothers until they learn to hunt successfully, usually at about 18 to 24 months
old. They reach full independence after two to three years, at which point they
disperse to find their own territory. Female tigers often remain near their mother’s’
territory, while males disperse farther from home.
Reproduction and Development
Female tigers reach sexual maturity between age 3 and 4. Males are sexually mature
at about 4 or 5 years old. Mating can occur at any time of year but most often takes
place during cooler months between November and April. Tigers are induced
ovulators, which means females will not release eggs until mating occurs. Gestation
lasts approximately 100 days, and females give birth to between one and seven
offspring at a time, averaging between two and four cubs. Once cubs become
independent, at about age 2, females are ready to give birth again. However, if a
female’s offspring do not survive, due to causes such as infanticide or starvation, she
is able to conceive another litter right away.
Lifespan
The life span of tigers in the wild is usually between 10 and 15 years. In human care,
or on rare occasions in the wild, a tiger can live up to 20 years. However,
approximately half of all wild tiger cubs do not survive past the first two years of life.
Only 40 percent of those that reach independence actually live to establish a territory
and produce young. The risk of mortality remains high for adult tigers due to their
territorial nature, which often results in direct competition with conspecifics, or
members of the same species.
WHERE TO FIND THE COMMON SNAPPING TURTLE
