Snapping Turtle

Habitat:

Snapping turtles spend the vast majority of their time in water, particularly slow-moving bodies of water with sandy or muddy bottoms. They inhabit marshes, swamps and bogs, creeks, streams, and rivers, ponds and lakes, and are even capable of tolerating brackish water.

Behavior:

Snapping turtles are largely nocturnal and spend most of their time submerged at the bottom of lake- and river-beds, waiting to ambush nearby prey. During the breeding season, they travel across land to find mates and suitable nesting sites - and frequently are killed attempting to cross roads. They are cold-blooded, basking at the water's surface instead of fully on land when they need to warm up. During the winter, they hibernate by burrowing into the mud in shallow water or along banks. Like many turtle species, they are exceptionally long-lived, and while their lifespan in the wild is not well known, it is speculated to be up to 100 years.

Diet:

Snapping turtles are omnivores, eating a wide variety of plant and animal food including fish, aquatic invertebrates, algae and aquatic plants, and even carrion. While younger turtles may forage for food, adults tend to adopt an ambush hunting strategy, waiting at the bottom of muddy bodies of water for nearby prey to wander within striking distance.

Reproduction:

After emerging from hibernation in the spring, snapping turtles breed, and the females emerge from the water to find terrestrial nesting sites, sometimes up to a mile away from the water. Females dig a large burrow in the substrate before depositing an average of 30 soft-shelled eggs, leaving them to fend for themselves. Incubation takes between 80-90 degrees, depending on ambient temperatures, and it is these eggs, along with young turtles, that face the highest mortality - up to 90% of eggs may be eaten by predators before they even hatch. Interestingly, snapping turtles are a species with temperature dependent sex selection - what gender the young will be is determined by the temperature of the eggs during incubation. Lower temperatures produce females, while higher temperatures produce males. Once hatched, young will make a perilous journey back to the water, and many fall prey to other animals like skunks, raccoons, and even larger snapping turtles. Turtles become sexually mature at ages anywhere between 5-19 years; more northerly populations grow slower and take longer to mature.

Associated Species:

While adult snapping turtles are rarely predated upon, eggs and young are commonly killed and eaten by a variety of animals, such as foxes, crows, and snakes. One of the few animals which are capable of predating upon adult snapping turtles are American alligators whose bite force is strong enough to crush their shells. Snapping turtles eat a wide variety of aquatic animals such as crayfish.

Sources: https://www.chesapeakebay.net/discover/field-guide/entry/common-snapping-turtle, https://mnzoo.org/common-snapping-turtle/, https://srelherp.uga.edu/turtles/cheser.htm, https://portal.ct.gov/DEEP/Wildlife/Fact-Sheets/Common-Snapping-Turtle, https://publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2009/ec/CW69-14-565-2009E.pdf