This is an alligator snapping turtle that lives in a tank just inside the front door at Heckrodt‘s nature center. This is a very large turtle that is probably about 2 feet long. It hardly moves at all. They even have a sign on the tank that says “This turtle is alive” because usually when you look, it is not moving. They live in southern USA.
It eats fish, and it has a really neat way of catching fish. It has a tongue that looks like a worm. It even wiggles around like a worm. So the turtle just sits there with its mouth open, and it doesn’t move at all except for its tongue. Then when a fish swims by, it sees the tongue and goes for it. When that happens, SNAP! At Heckrodt, they have goldfish that swim around in the tank with the alligator snapping turtle. I haven’t seen the turtle eat a fish yet, but while we were there on Saturday some other people saw it eat one.
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I have never heard of that kind of turtle, but the name is very cool! I like how he used his tongue as bait.
Thanks for visiting my website, Ryan! It is a cool turtle. The first time I saw it, I thought it was a rock with a worm on it. Maybe next time you come to visit we can go see this turtle.
I haven’t had a chance to look at your blog for several days so I saw about 4 new posts all at the same time. All of them are very interesting, but I especially like this one about the alligator snapping turtle and his wiggly-like-a-worm tongue. That would be fun to watch.
Thanks, Grandma! I’ll take you there to see the turtle sometime.
hey ive got a few baby alligator snappers but nothing nearly as big a beautifull as this guy. very impressive turtle were was this?
This turtle lives at Heckrodt Nature Center in Menasha.
hey one thing they’re America’s largest turtles , am i right?
You are right. They are the largest freshwater turtle in North America.