50. CLEMMYS 977 



Habits. This is the terrapin of the San Francisco mark- 

 ets, and is popularly known as the Mud Turtle or Snapper. 

 Very little is known of its habits. It is almost exclusively 

 aquatic, preferring ponds and small lakes to running water, 

 but is sometimes encountered in rivers or creeks and even on 

 land while crossing from one body of water to another. It 

 sometimes is caught with hook and line, and probably is 

 omnivorious. A specimen which I kept alive laid three eggs 

 in June and another in August. The eggs are elliptical, with 

 hard, white, limy shells, and measure about 34 by 21 milli- 

 metres. 



In riding along the east side of Lower Klamath Lake, 

 June 12, 1918, a number of these turtles were caught cross- 

 ing the road. They were large females and probably were 

 looking for suitable places to lay their eggs. 



Dr. and Mrs. Grinnell give the following notes on the 

 habits of this species as observed in Los Angeles County: 



"It is seldom found far from permanent streams and 

 ponds, and as these are scarce, one does not often meet with 

 this animal. We have seen it in July and August in the San 

 Gabriel, Arroyo Seco and Tujunga Canyons, where individ- 

 uals were startled from rocks at the margins of sluggish 

 pools. They seek safety in the deepest places beyond reach, 

 burying themselves in masses of water-logged leaves and 

 brush, if such retreats are available. 



"Mr. Howard Wright, a student in the Biological De- 

 partment, found mud turtles to be abundant along the West 

 Fork of the San Gabriel, the last of June, 1906. Here the 

 turtles were found to avoid the rapid stretches in the stream, 

 and were easiest to capture in the still, shallow pools. In 

 July, turtle tracks could be seen in many directions over the 

 sand, where the animals had wandered at night away from 

 the stream. By following these tracks, one turtle was found 

 half-buried in the warm sand about 30 feet from the stream, 



