REPTILES 325 



and from the natural breeding grounds of wild ducks and geese. The 

 most effective means of doing this would be to find their nesting banks 

 and destroy the eggs or catch the turtles at night, when they 'leave 

 the water to lay. A female may produce from 2 to 4 dozen eggs. The 

 soft-shelled terrapin (Aspidonectes ferox) is said to be the best of all the 

 fresh-water forms, even the shell, properly cooked, being considered a 

 delicacy. They are, however, vicious destroyers of fishes and waterfowl. 



Any of the smaller mud, or pond, terrapins, painted or spotted, and 

 the land tortoises, offer interesting problems in the study of foods 

 and possible edibility. The common box tortoise (jCistudo Carolina) 

 makes an interesting pet, and its appetite for slugs renders it a valu- 

 able assistant to gardeners. The gopher tortoise (Testudo polyphemus) 

 of the South may attain a 

 weight of 15 pounds. Tt is 

 considered edible. 



The annual catch of food 

 turtles, terrapins, and tortoises 

 amounts to about 1,400,000 

 pounds, valued at $114,500. 

 What it might be if these re- 

 sources were properly handled 

 has never been estimated. 



Lizards Lacertilia. The FIG. 158. Common lizard 



lizards are an effective in- 

 sect police for hot, dry habitats not covered by amphibia. They 

 are difficult to keep in a laboratory, but if we have a sunny 

 window, in which we can imitate desert conditions, we may 

 make valuable feeding tests with a number of the commoner 

 forms the blue-tailed lizard, or skink (Eumeces fasdatus), 

 the fence swift (Sceloporus undulatus*), and one of the horned 

 toads, or the chameleon (Anolis carolinensis). This may help 

 us to realize the importance of the group in nature. Lizards 

 are clearly distinguished from all salamanders of somewhat sim- 

 ilar form by being covered with scales. None of our 97 species 

 of small, agile lizards are in any way harmful or dangerous. 

 The Gila monster (Heloderma suspectum) of the arid South- 

 west is the one venomous lizard native to the United States. 



