THE GEOGRAPHIC TURTLE. 



Tiir AP and mud-turtle {Malaco- 

 /y\ clemmys geographicns) are the 

 ^ \^ more common names by which 

 this animal is known; and as it 

 is a characteristic species of the waters 

 of Illinois and occurs in countless num- 

 bers in lakes, rivers, and flood-ground 

 pools, it may be assumed that most of 

 our readers have met with it. It is 

 exceedingly common in the Illinois 

 and Mississippi rivers, where it is often 

 confounded with quite another species. 

 It is the only species seen by Mr. F. 

 M. Woodruff on the shores of Lake 

 Michigan, whence he has frequently 

 chased it to the water and caught it in 

 his hands. It is timid and inoffensive 

 in disposition, always sliding from 

 bank or log when approached, and 

 even when captured shows none of the 

 ferocity of the snapper. The great 

 strength of its jaws, unsurpassed in 

 massiveness by any of our turtles, 

 would enable it to inflict serious 

 wounds, and it is not a little surprising 

 to find such efficient weapons of offense 

 unaccompanied by special ruggedness 

 of temper. Our streams and lakes, 

 with their numerous sandy shores, and 

 their abundance of animal and vegetable 

 life, would seem to form an ideal hab- 

 itat for these reptiles. Their food con- 

 sists ordinarily of fishes, frogs, and 

 mollusks, crayfishes, aquatic insects, 

 and vegetation. They trouble fisher- 

 men at times by devouring fishes which 

 they have caught on trot-lines or in 

 set nets. They are not rapid swim- 

 mers. An animal once within reach of 

 their jaws must be very quick to escape 

 capture. The eggs are white and are 

 provided with a rather tough shell. 

 They bury their eggs in sand on the 

 shore and leave them to hatch by the 

 sun's heat. 



A gentleman who had a pet turtle 

 which he kept in a tank tells some in- 

 teresting things about its appetite. 

 During the early spring he fed him on 



bits of meat, either raw or cooked. 

 Having no teeth, he swallowed these 

 whole, gulping them down with large 

 quantities of water. Outside of his 

 tank he would carry food in his mouth 

 for hours at a time, but apparently 

 was unable to swallow it with his 

 head out of water. He always aimed 

 well, and snapped up bits of meat as 

 carefully and as quickly as if they had 

 been bits of life that might escape him. 

 When a morsel was too large to be 

 swallowed whole, he held it down firmly 

 with his fore feet and pulled bits off 

 with his mouth. His owner once gave 

 him a fish so large that it took him three 

 hours to eat it, and in all that time he 

 never removed his foot. Rival turtles 

 and swift currents had probably taught 

 him this bit of discretion in the days 

 of his freedom. One time he put 

 twenty small fish averaging three 

 inches in length into his tank, thinking 

 this would be a treat for him and 

 would save the trouble of feeding him 

 for some time. A treat he evidently- 

 considered it, for within half an hour 

 he had disposed of the entire lot. 

 This excited the admiration of the 

 gentleman's boy friends, and the next 

 day they brought in sixty small fish. 

 At the end of the second day the 

 turtle looked about with an Oliver 

 Twist-like air, which plainly called for 

 more. When there was any percep- 

 tible difference in the size of the fish it 

 always ate the largest one first. It ate 

 grasshoppers and dragon-flies, tadpoles, 

 and little frogs — animal food of any 

 kind. It would eat eggs as readily as 

 meat. This voracity of appetite ac- 

 counts for much of the destruction of 

 young fish life in our lakes and streams, 

 where these turtles are extremely 

 abundant. 



In the Philippines, it is said, there 

 lives a turtle that climbs trees. The 

 feet are strongly webbed, and each has 

 three sharp claws. 



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