The common snapping turtle is probably better known than any other turtle in the United States. It has a big head, a long neck, and powerful, scissor-like jaws, and it looks too big for its shell. In young specimens, the upper shell is very rough and has three well-defined ridges. the color of the shell varies; it can be black, dark brown or light brown. The bottom shell is yellow or tan, and disproportionately small. It is easy to recognize a snapping turtle by its saw-toothed tail, which is sometimes as long as its shell.

Adults measure eight to eighteen inches and weigh ten to thirty-five pounds. Captive snappers can be fattened to great weights---eighty-six pounds in one case.

Snapping turtles are most often found in freshwater ponds, lakes, swamps and streams. They prefer quiet water with a mud bottom and lots of aquatic vegetation. They range from southern Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains.

A large number of creatures, either alive or dead, form the diet of the snapping turtle: insects, crayfish, crabs, clams, snails, frogs, toads, snakes, small turtles, birds, fish and small mammals. These turtles are often disliked by hunters and fishermen because they compete for game fish and eat ducklings, but studies indicate that snapping turtles don't capture enough game fish or ducklings to make much difference. They eat plants as well as animals.

Underwater, snappers are usually not very aggressive. If stepped on, they are apt to simply pull themselves into their shells. But on land they are fierce. They strike at an intruder, lunging forward with such vigor that they sometimes rise partly off the ground. They move forward to strike again and again.

It is best to leave snapping turtles alone. They defend themselves by biting and have been known to take off a man's finger with one bite. If you do decide to pick one up, a safe way to do so is to hold out a large stick for it to bite. It will probably hang onto the stick with its powerful jaws while you carry it. Another safe way to carry a snapping turtle is to pick it up by the hind legs, with the lower shell facing you, but you must hold the turtle as far away from your body as possible. If placed in or near the water, a snapping turtle will lose its aggressiveness and swim away.

Unlike most turtles, snappers rarely bask in the sun. They spend most of their time at the bottom of a pool or buried in the mud in shallow water, with only nostrils and eyes exposed. They also hide in brush, under stumps, and in muskrat houses. Sometimes they float along the water with just their noses and eyes above water. When disturbed they can swim rapidly.