brush, and other objects in the water and in muskrat 

 lodges or burrows.' Engels (1942), Carr (1952), and 

 Ernst and Barbour (1972) noted utilization of brackish 

 tide pools by this species, and that adult turtles prefer 

 deeper waters and younger turtles prefer shallower 

 waters. 



While certain authorities (Ernst and Barbour 

 1972; Froese 1974) have commented on or studied 

 problems relating to cover requirements, almost noth- 

 ing is known of the minimum needs for given individ- 

 uals, populations, or activities. Most authors agree, 

 however, that some sort of 'cover' is necessary or at 

 least preferred by these turtles. 



Ewert (1976) discussed suruiing and sunning sites. 

 Froese (1974) provided very limited data on substrate 

 and cover preferences of juveniles. 



Ernst and Barbour (1972) reported that snapping 

 turtles consume insects, crayfish, fiddler crabs, 

 shrimp, water mites, clams, snails, earthworms, leech- 

 es, tubifex worms, freshwater sponges, fishes (adults, 

 fry, and eggs), frogs and toads (adults, tadpoles, and 

 eggs), salamanders, snakes, small turtles, birds, small 

 mammals, algae, and aquatic plants. Lagler (1943) re- 

 corded fishes, other vertebrates, invertebrates, carrion, 

 and plant material in snapping turtle diets. Alexander 

 (1943) reported that plant material composed 36.5% 

 (by volume) and animal material 54.1% (by volume ) 

 of the contents of 470 stomachs from Connecticut 

 specimens. 



Feeding usually takes place under water. Ernst and 

 Barbour (1972) reported that young snapping turtles 

 actively forage for food while older individuals tend to 

 lie in ambush for their prey. Burghardt and Hess 

 (1966) considered early stage food imprinting to be 

 important in the feeding behavior. 



Information on reproduction of turtles in Louisi- 

 ana is scarce. Arny (1948) reported a large number of 

 nests along the ridges, particularly the pass ridges of 

 the Mississippi River Delta, but no nests along the 

 waterways adjacent to the Gulf. He found very heavy 

 nest predation, especially by raccoons. Keiser (1976a) 

 noted elimination of snapping turtle nesting grounds in 

 the Atchafalaya River Basin by encroachment of hunt- 

 ing camps and summer homes. 



This is an omnivorous species associated with a 

 variety of aquatic habitats. Few papers deal with limit- 

 ing factors at the level needed for adequate manage- 

 ment, although Hammer (1969) provided useful in- 

 sights. Water is obviously critical as specimens only 

 occasionally travel on land. They do not sun them- 

 selves as often as most other aquatic turtles. Waters of 

 higher salinity levels may not be suitable, although 

 snapping turtles do occasionally live in brackish wat- 

 ters. Soft substrates are preferable to hard bottoms. 

 Submerged vegetation, debris, or logs are required for 

 cover. Rainfall and seasonal temperature variations are 

 particularly important during breeding and nesting 

 periods. Virtually nothing is known of specific limit- 

 ing factors for Chenier Plain populations. 



5.4.4 BVLLr ROG (Rana catesbeiana) 



Bullfrogs apparently prefer waters with the 

 shallow wooded shorelines with brush and stumps, 

 driftwood, or matted roots of a fringe of wUlow trees 

 (Wright and Wright 1949). Smith (1961) reported 

 that bullfrogs inhabit almost any type of permanent 

 water, such as lake, pond, river, and creek. Collins 

 (1974) wrote that it is restricted to permanent lakes, 

 rivers, streams, and swamps where deep water is 

 available and that this frog apparently spends the 

 winter months burrowed in mud beneath the water of 

 lakes and rivers. Fitch (1958) found that dispersal 

 from drying ponds usually takes place at night or 

 during periods of high humidity. Johnson (1977) 

 gave these comments: This is Missouri's most 

 aquatic species of frog. Bullfrogs spend most of their 

 time in or very near aquatic habitats such as lakes, 

 ponds, rivers, large creeks, sloughs, and permanent 

 swamps and marshes. They may enter caves at times.' 

 Carr (1940) summarized North Florida habitats of 

 bullfrogs as follows: '...Widely distributed, but 

 most highly concentrated in woods ponds with 

 emergent brushy vegetation (wUlow, button bush, 

 waterwiOow), lakes, ponds, and streams in which cover 

 grows to the water's edge; pools along the courses of 

 intermittent swamp streams.' 



Arny (1948) noted bullfrogs in ponds and 

 southern wildrice marshes at the Delta National 

 Wildlife Refuge in southern Louisiana. He found 

 recently metamorphosed young under boards on 

 Octave Pass, but located none along the Mississippi 

 River ridge or in saline areas. Tinkle (1959) reported 

 bullfrogs in a swamp at Sarpy Wildlife Refuge in St. 

 Charles Parish. Liner (1955) considered this species 

 common in swamps and bottomland hardwoods, and 

 scarce in the highland woods of Lafayette Parish. 

 Taylor (1970) and Taylor and Michael (1971) des- 

 cribed bullfrog habitats in eastern Texas (Nacog- 

 doches County). Details on bullfrog habitats within 

 the Atchafalaya River Basin of south central Louisiana 

 may be found in Keiser (1974a, 1974b, 1976a, 

 1976b). The most inclusive of these reports (1976a) 

 listed bullfrogs in the following habitats within the 

 Basin: cottonwood -willow-sycamore forest, cy- 

 press-tupelo, rarely flooded bottomland forest, upland 

 forests of Belle Isle at marsh-forest junction, levees, 

 forb and grass complexes, sandbars within and 

 adjacent to bayous, bays, and the Atchafalaya River, 

 mud flats, treeless ridges and spoil banks, Atchafalaya 

 and East Cote Blanche bays, tidal ditches, freshwater 

 marshes, bayous, canals, shallow woodland pools and 

 ditches, shallow non-woodland pools and ditches, land 

 isolated ponds, freshwater lakes, and the Atchafalaya 

 River, and within floating hyacinth mats. It should be 

 noted that bullfrogs were not observed in waters of 

 even moderate salinity during the course of Reiser's 

 study. Keiser found individuals in crayfish holes and 

 in the bottom mud as well as in numerous other 

 habitats. 



No published studies on bullfrog habitats within 

 the Chenier Plain are known. Penn (1943) mentioned 

 records for Sabine National Wildlife Refuge, but failed 



251 



