The largest turtle that we see here in Minnesota is the common snapping turtle. The common snapper can reach weights of around 50 pounds. The only turtle in North America that is larger, not counting sea turtles of course, is its cousin the
alligator snapping turtle.
Snappers are a highly aquatic species. They can be found in almost any types of habitat where there is a permanent water sources, such as ponds, lakes, and slow moving rivers or streams. They are
omnivores eating a variety of plants as well as fish, amphibians,
invertebrates,
aquatic insects and carrion. They are ambush hunters who sit motionless in the water waiting for unsuspecting prey to
swim by. They eat while they are submerged under water this allows the water
pressure to aid them in swallowing.
Snappers are crepuscular, which means that they are most active at dusk and down. In the water they are usually shy and will retreat from any danger, although they have very few predators in the wild. Approximately each June female snappers leave the water in search of a place to lay her eggs. This is one of the few times that you can find snappers on land. When they are out of the water snappers are very foul tempered and can be quite dangerous. Since they can not retreat back into their shell, the way that many other turtles do, they defend themselves by lunging forward and biting with their very powerful jaws. Although they are slow while on land they can still strike very quickly their neck stretching out around half of the distance of their shell.
The common snapper is a large turtle that is found in the eastern half of North America. Like all turtles snapper begin life as an egg. The female will leave the water to find sandy soil in which she will dig her nest. She will lay between 25 to 80 eggs and then cover them with sand and leave. The eggs will hatch 9 to 18 weeks later depending on the temperature. The young turtles will dig their way out of the nest and then head to the water.
Snapping turtles can live a long time. In the wild they can live to be about 30 years old. Over time they grow quite large reaching up to 20 inches long and 35 pounds. Snappers are not able to pull their legs and head inside of their shell for protection like most other turtles. Instead when they are threatened they may snap at a predator. This behavior has given snapping turtles the reputation of having a bad disposition.
