Truckin’ along for World Turtle Day
World Turtle Day is a celebration designed to raise awareness about turtles across the planet. It takes place every May 23rd so of course Mark got this photo yesterday morning. He shares:
This old mossy backed girl has been around here for many years. Here she is making her way down our driveway to the shoreline. Don’t get in her way! Worth a zoom in to see the dinosaur scales and massive claws.
Snapping turtles can live to be 30 years old. They look mean, and the UM Animal Diversity Web shares that the common snapping turtle shares it’s not an act:
Snapping turtles are not social creatures. Social interactions are limited to aggressive interactions between individuals, usually males. Many individuals can be found within a small range; snapping turtle density is normally related to the amount of available food. Snapping turtles can be very vicious when removed from the water, but they become docile when placed back into the water. Snapping turtles sometimes bury themselves in mud with only their nostrils and eyes exposed. This burying behavior is used as a means of ambushing prey.
Snapping turtles will eat nearly anything that they can get their jaws around. They feed on carrion, invertebrates, fish, birds, small mammals, amphibians, and a surprisingly large amount of aquatic vegetation. Snapping turtles kill other turtles by decapitation. This behavior might be territoriality towards other turtles or a very inefficient feeding behavior.
Click Mark’s pic for another view & learn all about Michigan’s ten turtle species on on Michigan in Pictures.
