SECOND WEEK] 



June 



them, turn them on their backs with a flip of the paw, 

 and eat them at leisure on the half shell, as it were ! 



Leathery turtles which live in the sea have been 

 reported weighing over a thousand pounds! This species 

 is very rare, and a cu- 

 rious circumstance is 

 that only very large 

 adults and very small 

 baby individuals have 

 been seen, the turtles 

 of all intermediate 

 growths keeping in the 

 deep ocean out of view. 



Snapping turtles are 

 among the fiercest crea- 

 tures in the world. On 

 leaving the egg their 

 first instinct is to open 

 their mouths and bite at something. They feed on 

 almost anything, but when in captivity they sometimes 

 refuse to eat, and have been known to go a year without 

 food, showing no apparent ill effects. One method which 

 they employ in capturing their food is interesting. A 

 snapping turtle will lie quietly at the bottom of a pond or 

 lake, looking like an old water-soaked log with a branch 

 its head and neck at one end. From the tip of the 

 tongue the creature extrudes two small filaments of a 

 pinkish colour which wriggle about, bearing a perfect 

 resemblance to the small round worms of which fishes are 

 so fond. Attracted by these, fishes swim up to grasp the 



DIAMOND-BACK TERRAPIN ox ITS BACK. 



