Snapping Turtle
Identification
Snapping turtles are large turtles with a maximum upper shell length of 50 cm and weighing 15 kg, occasionally up to 35 kg. Snapping turtles are brown to olive in colour, with a long neck leading to a large head and hooked upper jaw. The long tail and limbs cannot be retracted into the shell due to the small size of the lower shell.
Habitat
These turtles are found in slow moving water systems with a soft clay or sandy bottom such as swamps, ponds or streams. As an opportunistic omnivore, the snapping turtle not only feeds on vegetation, but also uses it as cover to hunt small aquatic species. Laying eggs in sandy areas, females are attracted to roadways and in turn suffer from road mortality.