THE REPTILES OF OHIO 127 



to seize it by the tail and hold it away from one's body. The head strikes 

 with surprising quickness and doubtless the turtle may at times catch prey 

 which is moving at a fairly rapid speed. 



Snappers usually are pugnacious when first handled and some always 

 remain so, no matter how long they are kept in captivity. Juveniles and occa- 

 sional adults become tame, however, and may be handled with little more than 

 a fair amount of caution. When first caught, specimens exude a fluid from 

 their musk glands which has an unpleasant odor. 



When a snapper is walking on land the shell is held clear of the ground. 

 When one is at bay and prepared to strike, the posterior portion is usually 

 elevated considerably more than the anterior. In striking from such a posi- 

 tion the head is darted forward, the jaws close with a snap, the plastron thuds 

 against the ground and the whole body may slide forward from the impetus 

 of the blow. 



Snappers are fair climbers and occasionally they ascend several feet up the 

 trunks of trees inclined at a considerable angle with the surface of the water. 

 They are not particularly given to basking, but on warm days in early spring 

 they sometimes were found sunning themselves upon stumps, logs, etc., near 

 the edge of the water. 



Specimens were collected in every month except February. The seasonal 

 distribution was found to be fairly even during the summer months; the 

 peak of abundance, as indicated by the records, was in May. Snappers suc- 

 cessfully hibernated in an outdoor pool at the Toledo Zoo; in each of many 

 cases the site they selected was in water beneath a mass of leaves. Some in- 

 dividuals were completely submerged while others had the greater portion of 

 their bodies above the surface of the water. Several were seen swimming 

 slowly about under the ice in late fall. 



Snapping turtles are largely carnivorous. They were observed eating in- 

 sects, snails, slugs, crayfish, fish, frogs, salamanders, snakes, birds and mam- 

 mals. That they occasionally take vegetable food is shown by the fact that 

 captives ate lettuce and the core of an apple which fell into their tank. It is 

 quite probable that a considerable portion of their food consists of carrion. 

 They often were abundant in rivers polluted with garbage and other organic 

 sewage. 



Small prey is drawn into the mouth with a sudden gulp, as though it were 

 sucked into a vacuum cleaner. Large animals, such as aquatic birds or mam- 

 mals are seized in the jaws and held beneath the surface until they drown. 

 There they are reduced to swallowable portions by the claws which tear off 

 pieces as the animal is held. Captives live well on a diet of meat and fish, 

 but they seem unable to swallow unless their heads are submerged in water. 



Snappers are a distinct liability on muskrat farms, fish hatcheries, etc., 

 where their voracious appetites are apt to make serious inroads upon the stock. 

 It practically is impossible to exterminate them in marshes or other extensive 



