Snapping Turtle

The snapping turtle's face matches it's temper perfectly- snappy and harmful! It attacks anything that disturbs it, and can snap a broom handle in half with one bite. These turtles are found in North America, and prefer calm, muddy water to live in. Maybe this contributes to their mood- if I had to live in muddy water, I'd be pretty crabby too!

These nasty turtles eat fish and waterfowl, and are very snappy. They should never be handled without extreme caution. The way a snapping turtle lures food to itself is it attracts them with it's long, pink, wormlike tongue. Then, the fish automatically think "food", and get eaten promptly.

As for the mating season of the snapping turtle, they are active from April to November, though they often mate in the warmer months. While they are most comfortable in the water, they lay their eggs on land far away from the water. The female turtle makes a nest, often in sand or dirt, and lays 20-40 eggs there. Unfortunately, 84% of the nests are destroyed by racoons and other predators looking for an easy meal. The eggs that do make it through hatch after around 95 days, and then make their way to water.

Fun Fact: There is a stage during the egg's development where incubation is crucial to determine whether the egg will be a boy or a girl. Cooler and unincubated eggs are boys, and warm and incubated eggs are girls.

Gecko

There are 1500 different species of gecko, or gekkota. The smallest ever discovered, Jaragua Sphaero, is less then two centimeters long (though the largest in that species was just over 60 centimeters). The largest species, the Kawekaweau, found in New Zealand is now extinct. The word gecko comes from an ancient language word 'gekoq'. While it is not in our dictionary today, it IS the sound that geckos make when interacting with other lizards of their species.

Some geckos are poisonous and can defend themselves, but what about your average gecko? Many geckos do not defend themselves by attack, but by distraction and escape. Almost all geckos can detach their tail and live. The tail, after it is removed, wriggles on the ground for a minute, giving the gecko a chance to escape while the predator is fooled by the tail.

The tail regrows after time, but only in cartilage, not bone like the original tail. Most geckos, after the predator is gone, will return to see if their tail is still there. If it is, the creature will eat it to store its nutrients for times when food is scarce. Geckos also do this when they shed their skin- they eat it for nutrients.

Geckos, unlike most lizards, are very friendly with humans and most people like them, as they love to eat mosquitoes and many other bugs. They have very special toe pads, and can climb up and vertical surface, as long as it is smooth. They can even, to the amazement of many, walk across ceilings with no problem!

As for gecko mating season, geckos can sometimes reproduce WITHOUT mating! A female can reproduce without a male- but only with a genetic disorder that leaves her prone to many diseases, illnesses, and a shorter lifespan. The eggs take 40-60 days to hatch, and after that, a year before the cycle starts all over again. The babies learn to survive without any help from the mother.