TURTLES FOUND IN SOUTHEAST GEORGIA
| COMMON NAME | SCIENTIFIC NAME | Image |
| 1. ALLIGATOR SNAPPING TURTLE | MACROCLEMYS TEMMINCKI |  |
| 2. COMMON SNAPPING TURTLE | CHELYDRA SEPENTINA | |
| 3. SPINY SOFTSHELL TURTLE | TRIONYX SPINIFERUS |  |
| 4. FLORIDA SOFTSHELL | TRIONYX FEROX |  |
| 5. STINKPOT | STERNOTHERUS ODARATUS |  |
| 6. EASTERN MUD TURTLE | KINOSTERNON SUBRUBRUM |  |
| 7. STRIPED MUD TURTLE | KINOSTERNON BAURI | |
| 8. CHICKEN TURTLE | DEIROCHELYS RETICULARIA |  |
| 9. EASTERN BOX TURTLE | TERARRAPENE CAROLINA |  |
| 10. SLIDER | PSEUDEMYS SCRIPTA |  |
| 11. COOTER | PSEUDEMYS FLORIDANA |  |
| 12. RIVER COOTER | PSEUDEMYS CONCINA | |
| 13. GOPHER TORTOISE | GOPHERUS POLYPHEMUS |  |
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The Alligator Snapping Turtle is the ugliest,largest amd most vicious turtle found in north america.They are called alligator turtle because of their long tail. They capture food by using their decoy worm (a small wormlike attachment to the tongue). They lay under water with their mouths open - When a fish swims in to get the decoy worm, the jaws snap shut.Adults can be up to 3 feet long and weigh over 100 pounds.
The average adult Common Snapping Turtle size is about 12 inches. They have powerful jaws and can bite off a finger. They will attack and eat just about anything.They feed on grass, wading birds and fish.
An adult Spiny Softshell Turtle is about 12 inches in size and are a brown to olive in color with 2 stripes on the head. They like fast moving rivers and streams.They are not as common to Southeast Georgia as Their close relative The Florida Softshell Turtle.
The Florida Softshell Turtle is the largest of American softshelled turtles with adults reaching sizes of up to 18 inches and weighing up to 40 pounds.These turtles are found in ponds, lakes and rivers in Southeast Georgia.They are Harmless and edible.They are seldom seen any distance from water.They are brownish-olive color and white below.
The Stinkpot, also called "The Stinking Jenny" or "The Stinking Jim",is about 5 1/2" long and is of the musk turtle family, easily recognized by their offensive smell.They spend much of their time in the mud hunting for fish eggs and tadpoles.They will scavenge dead fish and dead birds. They are fiesty little turtles with 2 light stripes on the head and barbels on the chin and throat.They prefer still or slow moving water with mud bottoms.
The Mud Turtle, like Stinkpot, omits an offensive odor but not as strong.They like slow moving or still muddy water wiyh lots of vegetation.They feed on fish and insects.The average adult size is about 3 inches.They are most active in april through october. They are quite terrestrial and are sometimes seen crossing roads.They dont become sexually mature until they are 5 to 7 years old.
The Chicken Turtle average adult size is about 7 inches. they are brown or olive in color.The head and neck is brown wth green stripes.They are found in ponds, lakes and slow moving sections of rivers. They often swim and bask on logs in groups.
The average size of an adult Box Turtle is 5 inches. They have the ability to withdraw their head and leggs and to form a box. They are brown and white in color.Box turtles live in mud during the hot summer months and comes out on land and lives on river and creek banks in the spring and fall.They have long lifes and make good pets.
Also Known as "The dime store " turtle, the Slider is 5 to 11 inches as an adult. They have a prominent blotch behind their eyes that is red or yellow.They prefer slow moving streams or rivers,lakes or ponds that have soft bottoms and lots of vegetation.Sliders like to bask in the sun and are often seen in groups laying on logs. They eat water insects,crustaceans and tadpoles when they are young. Older sliders feed on vegetation.A lot of these turtles have been raised and sold as pets, but very few have survived to adulthood.
The adult cooter can grow to be 15 inches. They are brown in color with a green head and neck that has yellow stripes. The Cooter prefers still waters such as ponds and lakes.Its' close relative, the River Cooter prefers slow moving rivers and streams.They like to bask in the sun on logs.
The slow moving Gopher Tortoise is the most friendly creature in the tortoise family.They are a protected speciecies that is threatened by its small range in a area being populated by man. They prefer dry sand ridges for their burrows. Being quite accomplished diggers, they dig out extensive underground burrows. They will share these holes with other creatures such as owls,racoons,possums, skunks, frogs, indigo snakes and rattlesnakes. If left alone, they could live to be 100 years and provide many homes for other animals. The average adult is about 10 inches in size and weighs 9 to 10 pounds.They feed on grass and vegetation.
