Evening Republican, Volume 20, Number 16, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 19 January 1916 — SUBMARINE OF QUIET POND [ARTICLE]

SUBMARINE OF QUIET POND

Snapping Turtle Often Sinks a Swimming Duck and Makes Leisurely Meal. Ever see a duck, swimming along a pond quite peacefully, suddenly disappear beneath the surface of the water? You may have suspected that the duck had some enemy submarine lurking in the pond—and you were right. The name of the attacking submarine is snapping turtle. He lives in rivers and lakes throughout the United States, usually in deep water. He has a big head and a long tail—the long tail providing a very safe and convenient handle to pick him up by. At least, you’ll find it safest if you ever come in contact with his jaws. The snapper’s jaws are fitted with apair of sharp blades which come together with a click like a steel trap. A large snapper has sufficient power in his jaws to amputate a man’s finger. As for the duck, she hates him like poison. A snapper will sometimes seize a duck by the leg ahd draw her completely under water to eat at his leisure. A common size for snappers is about fifteen inches, including head and tail, with a shell about nine inches long. They lay their eggs in a hole scooped out in the sand. Both the eggs and the flesh of this turtle are excellent food—so good that they often masquerade on restaurant menus as “terrapin.”