Musk turtle "Stinkpot" |
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Description
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3-5 3/8". A feisty little turtle with 2 light stripes on head, barbels on chin and throat. Carapace (top part of shell) smooth or with 3 keels, unserrated, highly domed, and elongated; olive-brown to dark gray and often obscured by a layer of algae. Juveniles have keeled and patterned carapace with irregular dark streaks or spot. Plastron (under part of shell) small, with 11 scutes and a single inconspicuous hinge. Male's tail ends at a blunt horny nail; inner surface of hind legs bear 2 small patches of tiled scales. Female's tail very short, may end in sharp horny tip. |
| Breeding | Nests February to June, depending on latitude. Mates underwater. Lays 1-9 eggs-off-white with stark white band, thick-shelled, elliptical, 1 1/8" in shallow nest under rotting stump or in wall of muskrat lodge. Incubation takes 9 to 12 weeks. |
| Habitat | Freshwater; prefers quiet or slow-moving shallow, muddy-bottomed waters. |
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Other
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Also called Stinkpot
or Stinking Jim. When disturbed, it secretes a foul smelling, yellowish
fluid from 2 pairs of musk glands under the border of the carapace. Males
are aggressive and bite readily. Stinkpot's long neck can bring it's jaws
as far back as it's hind limbs. In early spring it likes to bask in shallows
or amid floating vegetation with the center of its carapace exposed to
the sun. Highly aquatic, Stinkpots rarely leave the water, but they will
occasionally climb trees to bask. Stinkpots annoy fishermen by grabbing
bait. One lived in captivity for almost 55 years.
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