THE GEOGRAPHIC TURTLE. 



M 



AP and mud-turtle (Malaco- 

 clemmys geographicus) re 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 ex- 

 ceedingly common in the Illinois and 

 Mississippi rivers, where it is often con- 

 founded with quite another species. It 

 is the only species seen by Mr. F. M. 

 Woodruff on the shores of Lake Michi- 

 gan, 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 eflicient weapons 

 of offense unaccompanied by special rug- 

 gedness of temper. Our streams and 

 lakes, with their numerous sandy shores, 

 and their abundance of animal and veg- 

 etable life, would seem to form an ideal 

 habitat for these reptiles. Their food 

 consists ordinarily of fishes, frogs, and 

 mollusks, crayfishes, aquatic insects, and 

 vegetation. They trouble fishermen at 

 times by devouring fishes which they 

 have caught on trot-lines or in set nets. 

 They are not rapid swimmers. An ani- 

 mal 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 inter- 

 esting things about its appetite. Dur- 

 ing the early spring he fed him on bits 



of meat, either raw or cooked. Having 

 no teeth, he swallowed these whole, gulp- 

 ing 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 swal- 

 low 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 es- 

 cape 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 moved 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 mches 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 admira- 

 tion 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 perceptible differ- 

 ence 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 accounts for much 

 of the destruction of young fish life in 

 our lakes and streams, where these tur- 

 tles 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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