130 



coiiimonly destructive to garden plants, and four had devoured land 

 snails with shells (Helix) while two had eaten pond snails of the 

 species co.mmouly found in the quiet waters of this State. In feed- 

 ing upon the slugs and snails the Snapping Turtles show themselves 

 to be decidedly beueficiaL Twelve of the Snappers, or over half 

 of the total number containing food, were found to have eaten cray- 

 fish. In making such a high record they show a particular fondness 

 for these aquatic animals. In fact, they are the most extensive 

 reptilian enemies of the crayfish, and in this feature come into keen 

 competition with some of the best fishes, such as black bass, sun 

 fish, pike, pickerel and trout. 



Nine snapping turtles, or about half the number, were found 

 to contain insects, of which two contained fragments so broken as 

 to be undeterminable, and one had eaten a Stink Bug and another 

 an aquatic insect, known as the Water Boatman (Corisa.) Two were 

 found to have eaten the larvoe of moths, commonly known as worms, 

 and in so doing were beneficial. Three had fed upon flies, all of 

 which had eaten the flies in their immature stage, commonly called 

 maggots. These were evidently the larvae of flies which live in the 

 mud or water and were thus easily obtained by the turtles in their 

 aquatic haunts. 



Seven specimens had eaten beetles, of which five contained fra^ 

 ments that were so broken as to be undeterminable. Among the 

 other food elements in these stomachs, were the Diving Beetle, the 

 Whirligig Beetle, Water Scavengers, and the larvae of other beetles. 

 These show a direct contrast to the Coleopterous or beetle food of 

 the Blue-tailed Lizard, which, while larger in percentage of land- 

 inhabiting beetles, contained none of the aquatic forms. Of course, 

 the Snapping Turtles live in and near the water and would be ex- 

 pected to feed on the water-inhabiting or sub-aquatic insects if on 

 any. Thus we have a good example of the relationship of the sur- 

 roundings to the food element. 



Seven specimens, or more than one-third of the total number con- 

 taining food, were found to have eaten vertebrate animals of some 

 kind. In many cases there was more than one object in the stom- 

 ach, and upon separating this material two were found to contain 

 fishes, one of which was a sucker. One Snapping Turtle had eaten a 

 frog, while two had devoured snakes, which were so nearly digested 

 as to be undeterminable in regard to species. One had eaten a bird, 

 and four had fed on mammals or so called quadrupeds. Two of 

 these contained mice, while one had actually devoured a rabbit. 



A review of the food of the Snapping Turtles shows that this con- 

 sists chiefly of aquatic creatures, mostly crayfish, and also v«rte- 



