THE SOFT-SHELLED “ TURTLES ” 
329 
The Snapping Terrapin, or Snapping “Tur- 
tle,” 1 which is found in the northern states as 
well as in the South, is a very cross-tempered and 
savage understudy of the preceding species, and 
it is ugly in more senses than one. It has a 
humpy, moss-covered back, a mean eye, a dan- 
gerously sharp and hooked beak like a horned 
owl, and a tail that reminds one of the terminal 
half of a bloated water-moccasin. 
This reptile seldom leaves the waters of the 
ponds in which it lives. It believes most thor- 
oughly in the survival of the fittest, and to it the 
Fittest is “Number One.” It is a 
chronic fighter, and inasmuch as its 
jaws are very strong, — and, like some 
men, never know when to let go, — 
it is a reptile to be either mastered 
or avoided. It is wholly carnivo- 
rous in its habits, and is very de- 
structive to fish and young water- 
fowl. 
Strange to say, the Snapping Tur- 
tle is regularly consumed as food, 
and is often sold in the Centre Mar- 
ket at Washington. 
THE SOFT-SHELLED “TUR- 
TLES.” 
perfect, the bones being literally few and far be- 
tween, and the upper and lower shells are quite 
unconnected by bony structure. The feet are 
large and strongly webbed, but only the three 
inner toes are provided with claws. In habit 
these creatures are persistently aquatic, rarely 
going upon dry land, and they are both vora- 
cious and carnivorous. They live upon fish, fish- 
eggs, frogs, angle-worms, and small mollusks 
generally. 
The Soft-Slielled “Turtle ” 2 is perhaps the 
most common representative of this Family in 
Trionychidae. 
This Family is of ancient lineage, 
and wide distribution, its members 
being found in the rivers of Asia, 
Africa and North America. Wherever found 
they may be recognized by very flat and nearly 
circular shells that are imperfectly ossified, both 
above and below, and which terminate at the 
edges in thin plates of leathery skin. The nose 
is prolonged into a decided proboscis, and the 
neck is long and flexible. In some species 
(found in Australia) the neck is so very long 
it cannot be withdrawn into the shell, but in 
times of danger it is laid away snugly under 
the upper edge of the shell, passing over one fore- 
leg. 
The members of this Family present many 
anatomical exceptions to the regular order of 
form among tortoises and terrapins, and by 
some authors they are placed at the foot of the 
Order Chelonia. The shell is really very im- 
1 Che-ly'dra ser-pen-ti'na. 
SOFT-SHELLED “TURTLE.” 
Aspidonecte s ferox, from Florida. 
the United States. It is found from South 
Carolina westward through the Gulf states to 
Texas; up the Mississippi to Indiana, Illinois 
and the Great Lakes, north and westward up the 
Missouri to the Rocky Mountains. 
I never shall forget those I encountered in cen- 
tral Indiana, when fishing with hook and line. 
The provoking Soft-Shells would persist in swal- 
lowing hooks that were not baited for them, and 
the difficulties we had in cutting off their leathery 
heads and dissecting out our hooks tried our 
patience very sorely. It was not. until many 
years later that we squared accounts with this 
species. At Miami, Florida, fine large specimens 
were fried in batter, and eaten with great relish. 
When properly cooked, the shell of this reptile 
is tender, tasty and desirable. 
2 As-pi-do-nec'tes fe'rox. 
