Remain calm after a turtle bite. This bite is likely a warning snap that accidentally hit you and now the turtle may either release you or hold its grip. Wait for the turtle to release its bite. Do not further aggravate it, as this will cause it to hold longer. Do not kill the turtle; its jaws will then lock and contract even more, making removal more difficult. Handle a turtle properly to avoid its bite altogether. If you are bitten, a turtle can be removed by being calm and placing the turtle in water until he lets go.
If a turtle has bitten you, do not attempt to pull or pry the turtle's mouth off of you. This will worsen the damage to your skin and will frighten the turtle or cause him pain.
Submerge the turtle into water. Once submerged, hold still and he will let go. Once he has released his grip, move away from him quickly and give him time to calm down if possible. The neck is long and flexible, which allows it to reach from around its shell and deliver a nasty bite to anything or anyone that threatens it.
There are two small, skin-like projections on the chin of a snapping turtle called barbels. The top shell, or carapace, is smooth in larger animals, while young snapping turtles have small, tooth-like ridges, called keels. The outer-most bony plates in juvenile snapping turtles have a white spot on their underside.
The tail also has tooth-like ridges, giving a very primitive appearance. Unlike other turtles, snapping turtles cannot pull their head or legs all the way into their shells for protection. The bottom shell, or plastron, is small and cross-shaped, meaning at the four corner points of the shell the legs are left exposed.
Common snapping turtles are found in almost any permanent body of water, from rivers to farm ponds. They prefer areas with muddy bottoms, vegetation and other forms of cover such as leaves or submerged timber. In shallow water, they tend to burrow into the mud and poke their heads above the surface every now and then for a gulp of air.
0コメント