Webster City freeman. [volume] (Webster City, Hamilton County, Iowa) 1884-1946, 1915-07-06

tirely aquatic in their
habits and rarely leave the water ex-
cept to lay their eggs. The painted
turtle is the more abundant and, from
its custom of crawling out on logs and
rocks to sun itself, is much oftener
seen. and consequently better known
than the snapper" which, though it
exists in far larger numbers than is
generally suspected, evidently finds
concealment best suited to its preda-
cious mode of life. In it's business it
does not pay to advertise.
The swapping turtle has very ex-
tensive range, being found over the
whole Of the United States east of the
Rockies, and as far south as Ecuador,
while to the north it extends probably
to 30 degrees north latitude. It grows
much larger than it's painted" brother,
specimens with carapace length of
two feet being sometimes taken. Be-
sides its strong, thick tail, its chief
characteristic Is its long neck, which
1t can dart out with astonishing rapid
ity to seize its prey or attack an enc
my. and from this it gains its popular
name. Its powerful jaws, though
toothless, are bony and sharp. and are
capable of inflicting serious wound
on the careless captor The carapace
OF the adult animal Is composed of
smooth, well defined, greenish brown
plates. The plastron and under parts
of the animal are yellowish. Very old
individuals evidently lead sedentary
lives, and thus avoid the proverbial
opprobrium of the rolling stone" for
their shells are often thickly coated
with moss.
On land they can walk briskly
enough on their long legs. but the
water is their real element, and they
swim easily and well, although. of
course, their lines are not designed
for speed, and they can remain sub
merged for long periods.
AS the snapper" is well able, and
always more than willing, to take
strong offensive-ever the best means
of defense-it does not stand in need
Of a capacious shell, like many Of its
milder-mannered relatives, into which
to retire out Of harms way. Conse-
quently its carapace scarcely covers
its retracted head and folded tail,
while its cruciform plastron is narrow
and small, and leaves the under parts
practically undefended. The animal
generally has a very unpleasant,
musty smell, and always exhibits a
most savage temper. Its favorite habi-
tat is small, sluggish streams and
swamps, where 1t lies concealed in the
mud and weeds, darting out its long
neck to seize its food. 1t is purely
carnivorous in its diet, and destroys
large numbers Of fish and, when it can
get them, young waterfowl. On this
account we must class it as a decided
ly injurious animal, although in some
places it Is regularly used for food,
and is said to be often seen on sale
in the markets of the southern United
States.
About the middle of June the fe-
males leave the water at night to de-
post their eggs. They crawl out on
some sandy beach and scrape shallow.
saucer-shaped depressions in the loose.
dry surface sand in order to reach the
firmer layer of damp sand beneath
On the beach I examined, these de-
pressions we're about six inches deep
by fourteen or fifteen inches in d.
ameter. The turtles seem to be rather
fastidious in their choice Of a site,
for they always make number of
these hollows before finally tunneling
into the damp sand. The tunnel, which
is the actual egg receptacle, is an oval
section about three inches by four
inches, and slopes at an angle Of 20
or 80 degrees into the damp sand
to a depth of four or five inches. The
eggs, which just about fill this tunnel.
are all deposited at the same time,
and the sand scraped over them again
and roughly heaped up. When the
NEST" is completed the bottom of the
tunnel is about ten inches from the
surface. The eggs Of nearly all the
other chelonia are oval in outline, but