SHORT STUDIES OF TURTLES. 271 



distance. Such a sound I, too, Lave heard coming, as I 

 thought at the time, directly from the water, but I never 

 saw a snapper in the act of uttering it ; so I can only 

 mention a peculiar, hoarse note, like " kweep," which, to 

 my positive knowledge, is often made by them early in 

 May, or just previous to the time of their leaving the 

 water for the purpose of depositing their eggs. 



No sooner are the young snappers free from the egg- 

 case than they make their way directly to the nearest 

 water, guided, I suppose, by the sense of smell. Once 

 in their proper element, and their activity becomes very 

 noticeable. All the day long they paddle ceaselessly 

 about, snapping at every minnow and insect in and out 

 of reach. According to Professor Agassiz, this snapping 

 habit commences wonderfully soon in life. In his famous 

 "Contributions to the Natural History of the United 

 States," he says : " The snapping turtle . . . exhibits . . . 

 its ferocious habits even before it leaves the egg, before 

 it breathes through lungs ; before its derm is ossified to 

 form a bony shield, etc. ; nay, it snaps with its gaping 

 jaws at anything brought near, though it be still sur- 

 rounded by its amnios and allantois, and its yolk still 

 exceeds in bulk its whole body." And again : " I have 

 seen it snapping in the same tierce manner as it does 

 when full grown, at a time it was a pale, colorless embryo, 

 wrapped in its foetal envelopes . . . three months before 

 hatching." "What, then, may we not expect from this 

 animal when it reaches a foot or more in length ? To it, 

 indeed, may be attributed the scarcity of much of that 

 animal life now frequenting our waters. On the other 

 hand, the snapper seems to have no enemies to bother it, 

 unless it be such as prey upon the very young. Can it 

 be that their undue increase is checked by mammals, like 

 the skunk, which hunt and devour their eggs ? When 



