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Geographic Terrapin
- Colouration
- The carapace is dull olive, with a fine and irregular net-work of yellow lines. These markings are very indistinct on some specimens and show only when the shell is moist. Some specimens have many dark blotches on the carapace. The marginal shields of the under side of the carapace are peculiarly marked; they are yellow and contain round, olive markings, consisting of one ring within another, but on very old specimens these markings may be present merely in the form of a dull blotch.
- Dimensions
- The measurements quoted are from a fair-sized female specimen, taken near Sandusky, Ohio:
- Distribution
- The species is abundant in the Valley of the Mississippi, whence, in the North it extends eastward into Pennsylvania and New York to Lake Champlain. It occurs as far south as Louisiana.
- Habits
- Judging from his experiences with several hundred specimens of this turtle, both in the tanks of the reptile house of the New York Zoological Park and with specimens that were liberated in small ponds of the Park, the writer believes this to be a delicate species when removed from its native environment. It will eat chopped fish, meat and mealworms, also earthworms and various soft-bodied grubs, dragging all its food into the water and devouring it beneath the surface. The writer has also observed it to eat the edges of water-lily pads. None of the specimens liberated in the Park ponds passed through the winter alive--all floating up dead in the spring. The ponds appeared to be very favorable for the life of such creatures as there was a soft mud bottom in which they could burrow for the winter. The experiment was continued for several winters, but with a like result. It appeared that some item of their food was lacking and without it they could not summon sufficient strength to pass the winter months.
The species grows to a considerable size--10 to 12 inches. The females are considerably larger than the males and have proportionately very large heads. The carapace is rather flat and flaring at the rear margin, where the junction of the shields form moderate notches. On the centre of the carapace is a well-defined, but dull keel. The surface of the carapace is quite smooth and exhibits a dull lustre with adult specimens, though faint ridges are usually to be seen on the sides.
The plastron is yellow and immaculate, with the exception of very narrow borders of darker colours following the edges of the shields across the shell.
Head markings.--The head and neck are very dark olive, with many narrow and parallel, greenish-yellow lines. These lines are more numerous than is the case with the other terrapin. A short distance behind the eye is a triangular spot of the same colour as the stripes.
The tail of male specimens is long--almost half the length of the plastron--and brightly striped with yellow.
Total length of Carapace . . . . . 9 1/2 inches.
Width of Carapace . . . . . 7 1/4 inches.
Length of Plastron . . . . . 8 inches.
Width, Flat Portion, of Plastron . . . . . 4 inches.
Width of Head . . . . . 1 7/8 inches.
A specimen of this size will weigh about three and a half pounds and sells for about seventy-five cents in the eastern markets.