page_title: List of U.S. state reptiles
section_title: Legislation
hierarchical_section_title: List of U.S. state reptiles / Governmental aspects / Legislation
caption_attribution_description: From English wikipedia. A common snapping turtle in Norman, Oklahoma, September, 2005. Note the sharp nails and beak and the bony protruberances on the legs. The dark brown lumps on the turtle's back are snails.
context_page_description: Twenty-eight U.S. states have named an official state reptile. As with other state symbols, states compare admirable aspects of the reptile and of the state, within designating statutes. Schoolchildren often start campaigns promoting their favorite reptile to encourage state legislators to enact it as a state symbol. Many secretaries of state maintain educational web pages that describe the state reptile.
  Oklahoma was the first state to name an official reptile, the common collared lizard, in 1969. Only two states followed in the 1970s, but the ensuing decades saw nominations at a rate of almost one per year. State birds are more common, with all fifty states naming one, and they were adopted earlier, with the first one selected in 1927.
  Before their formal designation as state reptiles, Florida's alligator, Maryland's terrapin, and Texas's horned lizard were all mascots of a major in-state university. West Virginia's timber rattlesnake was an early American flag element dating back to 1775.
  Because of their cold-blooded nature, reptiles are more common in warmer climates, and nineteen of the twenty-eight state reptiles represent southern states.
context_section_description: A reptile becomes the official state symbol after it is voted in by the state legislature. Although many states require the bill to be signed by the governor, in some the enabling act is a resolution (legislature vote only). In 2004, Illinois held a popular vote to pick the painted turtle, but legislation was still required in 2005 to make the choice official.
  Schoolchildren often start the campaigns for state reptiles. Three of the four states choosing the painted turtle credit school classes with initiating the process. The process may require students to be knowledgeable of their selection, as was the case in Florida when students advocated for the loggerhead sea turtle; "Working with State Representative Curtis Richardson (D-Tallahassee), the students provided information and answered questions regarding the symbols." In New York, students statewide voted to pick one of four turtles; the common snapping turtle edged the painted turtle 5,048 to 5,005. Assemblyman Joel Miller had sponsored the turtle election to interest students in politics and said of the results, "as with every election, every vote is important".
  Candidate state reptiles are not assured of making it through the legislative process. In Minnesota, 1998 and 1999 bills proposing the Blanding's turtle were unsuccessful. In Pennsylvania in 2009, the House passed an eastern box turtle bill which died in the Senate without a vote. Virginia proponents of the eastern box turtle have seen 1999 and 2009 bids fail. For the most recent attempt, a legislative opponent of the turtle said it was too cowardly for the state because of its defensive shell, and suggested the rattlesnake would be a better representative. The turtle also drew scorn for often perishing on roads, but its most serious problem was a too-close association with bordering state, North Carolina.
caption: The common snapping turtle won a close election to become New York State's reptile icon.
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