Family: Kinosternidae, Musk and Mud Turtles view all from this family
Description 3-4 3/4" (7.5-12.2 cm). Three long light stripes on smooth, keelless carapace. Stripes may be obscure in older turtles. Scutes often translucent, with underlying bone sutures visible. Broad plastron has 2 well-developed hinges and 11 scutes. Male has spine-tipped tail and rough scale patches on insides of hind legs.
Breeding Nests September to June. Lays 3 or more clutches yearly of 1-4 eggs, 1 1/8" (28 mm) in length, in nest dug in sand or decaying vegetation. Incubation takes 13 to 19 weeks.
Habitat Cypress swamps, sloughs, ponds, drainage canals, and wet meadows.
Range Extreme s. South Carolina through s. half of Georgia and Florida peninsula and Florida Keys.
Discussion Our most terrestrial mud turtle; it is often observed crossing roads and visiting puddles after downpours. An opportunistic feeder, its diet includes insects, snails, dead fish, algae, cabbage palm seeds, and fishermen's bait. It is sometimes called the cow-dung cooter, because it forages in manure. The upper shell of turtles from the lower Florida Keys and Gulf hammock region is darkly pigmented, with stripes masked.
