Birds and All Nature, Vol. V, No 2 February 1899

<h2><SPAN name="THE_GEOGRAPHIC_TURTLE" id="THE_GEOGRAPHIC_TURTLE"></SPAN> THE GEOGRAPHIC TURTLE.</h2> <div> <ANTIMG class="drop-cap" src="images/initial_m.jpg" width-obs="70" height-obs="70" alt="" /></div> <p class="drop-cap">MAP and mud-turtle (<i>Malacoclemmys geographicus</i>) are the more common names by which this animal is known; and as it is a characteristic species of the waters of Illinois and occurs in countless numbers in lakes, rivers, and flood-ground pools, it may be assumed that most of our readers have met with it. It is exceedingly common in the Illinois and Mississippi rivers, where it is often confounded with quite another species. It is the only species seen by Mr. F. M. Woodruff on the shores of Lake Michigan, whence he has frequently chased it to the water and caught it in his hands. It is timid and inoffensive in disposition, always sliding from bank or log when approached, and even when captured shows none of the ferocity of the snapper. The great strength of its jaws, unsurpassed in massiveness by any of our turtles, would enable it to inflict serious wounds, and it is not a little surprising to find such efficient weapons of offense unaccompanied by special ruggedness of temper. Our streams and lakes, with their numerous sandy shores, and their abundance of animal and vegetable life, would seem to form an ideal habitat for these reptiles. Their food consists ordinarily of fishes, frogs, and mollusks, crayfishes, aquatic insects, and vegetation. They trouble fishermen at times by devouring fishes which they have caught on trot-lines or in set nets. They are not rapid swimmers. An animal once within reach of their jaws must be very quick to escape capture. The eggs are white and are provided with a rather tough shell. They bury their eggs in sand on the shore and leave them to hatch by the sun's heat.</p> <p>A gentleman who had a pet turtle which he kept in a tank tells some interesting things about its appetite. During the early spring he fed him on bits of meat, either raw or cooked. Having no teeth, he swallowed these whole, gulping them down with large quantities of water. Outside of his tank he would carry food in his mouth for hours at a time, but apparently was unable to swallow it with his head out of water. He always aimed well, and snapped up bits of meat as carefully and as quickly as if they had been bits of life that might escape him. When a morsel was too large to be swallowed whole, he held it down firmly with his fore feet and pulled bits off with his mouth. His owner once gave him a fish so large that it took him three hours to eat it, and in all that time he never removed his foot. Rival turtles and swift currents had probably taught him this bit of discretion in the days of his freedom. One time he put twenty small fish averaging three inches in length into his tank, thinking this would be a treat for him and would save the trouble of feeding him for some time. A treat he evidently considered it, for within half an hour he had disposed of the entire lot. This excited the admiration of the gentleman's boy friends, and the next day they brought in sixty small fish. At the end of the second day the turtle looked about with an Oliver Twist-like air, which plainly called for more. When there was any perceptible difference in the size of the fish it always ate the largest one first. It ate grasshoppers and dragon-flies, tadpoles, and little frogs&mdash;animal food of any kind. It would eat eggs as readily as meat. This voracity of appetite accounts for much of the destruction of young fish life in our lakes and streams, where these turtles are extremely abundant.</p> <p>In the Philippines, it is said, there lives a turtle that climbs trees. The feet are strongly webbed, and each has three sharp claws.</p> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</SPAN></span></p> <table class="sp2 mc w50" title="GEOGRAPHIC TURTLE." summary="GEORGRAPHIC TURTLE."> <tbody> <tr> <td colspan="3"><span class="ac w100 figcenter"> <SPAN name="i_029.jpg" id="i_029.jpg"> <ANTIMG style="width:100%" src="images/i_029.jpg" width="600" height="447" alt="" /></SPAN></span> </td> </tr> <tr> <td class="xx-smaller ac w30">FROM COL. L. E. DANIELS.</td> <td class="x-smaller ac w40">GEOGRAPHIC TURTLE.</td> <td class="xx-smaller ac w30">COPYRIGHT 1899,<br/> NATURE STUDY PUB. CO., CHICAGO.</td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <hr class="chap" /> <p><span class="pagenum"><SPAN name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</SPAN></span></p> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />