What a Stinker
About the size of a quarter, this hatchling Common Musk Turtle (Sternotherus odoratus) has some growing to do...though not all that much. Even adult musk turtles are only between three and five inches in size. And this little one is already fending for himself, zipping around along a shallow riverbed in search of protein-rich morsels of food. As an adult, he will use some interesting defenses to combat would-be predators--he'll have to because his plastron (the part of his shell covering his belly) is smaller than most other turtles' and leaves much exposed. Though it isn't as exposed as the poor snapping turtle, whose plastron is nearly nonexistent and results in quite a necessary and defensive temper.
But musk turtles will bite when they fear that they are being considered as a potential meal. Perhaps more interestingly, they will also secret a wildly foul-smelling, yellow-orange fluid from their musk glands, which reside at the base of their plastrons. Indeed, this is how they received their common nickname...the stinkpot!
What a Stinker
About the size of a quarter, this hatchling Common Musk Turtle (Sternotherus odoratus) has some growing to do...though not all that much. Even adult musk turtles are only between three and five inches in size. And this little one is already fending for himself, zipping around along a shallow riverbed in search of protein-rich morsels of food. As an adult, he will use some interesting defenses to combat would-be predators--he'll have to because his plastron (the part of his shell covering his belly) is smaller than most other turtles' and leaves much exposed. Though it isn't as exposed as the poor snapping turtle, whose plastron is nearly nonexistent and results in quite a necessary and defensive temper.
But musk turtles will bite when they fear that they are being considered as a potential meal. Perhaps more interestingly, they will also secret a wildly foul-smelling, yellow-orange fluid from their musk glands, which reside at the base of their plastrons. Indeed, this is how they received their common nickname...the stinkpot!