Although the last-named creature is sometimes called the snapping
turtle, the animal to which the name appropriately applies is a very
different creature. Its other name is the fierce trionyx.
It belongs to the family of tortoises, popularly called soft turtles.
Its flattened head is rather oval, with horny jaws, and hanging fleshy
lips, the mouth lengthened into a cylindrical snout. It has an
extremely long neck, which it can contract at will; short, wide feet;
and toes connected by strong webs. It is the most savage and formidable
of its tribe; being terribly destructive, not only among fish, but
smaller quadrupeds, birds, and reptiles, which it can capture. For this
object it lies in wait till they come down to drink, or till some
water-fowl flies too close to its haunt. It is said even to capture and
eat young alligators.
Though devouring so many other creatures, the snapping turtle is often
eaten himself; being hooked and drawn on shore by the fishermen. It
fights, on such occasions, and struggles ferociously, darting its head
here and there, endeavouring to seize the hands of its captors with its
formidable jaws.
It possesses extraordinary tenacity of life; and even after the head is
cut off, the body, it is asserted, will crawl for a short way over the
ground.