Chicken Turtle

Deirochelys reticularia

Reptile

Transcript:

Today on Animal Fact Files we’re discussing chicken turtles. Chicken turtles get their name not from their long, chicken-like necks - though we'll be coming back to that shortly - but because they supposedly taste like chicken! Apparently, these turtles have savory meat that is akin to the feathery domestic bird with which many of us are familiar. In fact, humans are some of the top predators to chicken turtles, not just hunting them for their taste but also accidently hitting them on roadways and destroying their habitat. 

Unlike pond turtles they often share their home with, chicken turtles have a long neck that is just about the length of their entire shell. This is the easiest way to tell a chicken turtle from a pond turtle. Chicken turtles also have a faint, net-like pattern across the top of their shell, vertical stripes running down their legs, and a pear-shaped carapace lined with a yellow tint. Male chicken turtles are slightly smaller than females, though on average these reptiles reach about six inches long across their shell. The largest individuals can almost double this, but these are rare.

Chicken turtles spend their time in slow-moving, ephemeral waterways. Marshes, ponds, swamps, and even roadside ditches suffice for this stagnant water loving reptile. They prefer shallow water with dense vegetation. In the winter, chicken turtles move upland, away from waterways and bury themselves in the dirt. Destruction of these upland habitats leaves the turtles with nowhere to spend the cold winters and this can lead to fatalities. Chicken turtles also frequently move between different stretches of closely located deep puddles. During these excursions they may cross roads which put them in direct danger of impact from vehicles.

Supposedly, chicken turtles don't live as long as some of the other inhabitants of their preferred habitats. According to catch and release studies, these vertebrates may only live about 15 years in the wild, which is relatively short compared to the decades that other turtle species can reach. Why this occurs is currently unknown!

Chicken turtles can be found in the southeastern and central southern United States. When they're young, their diet consists more of animal products such as dragonfly larvae and tadpoles; as they get older, chicken turtles eat more aquatic vegetation along with crayfish and carrion. In turn, they have to watch out for alligators, river otters, and wading birds as well as raccoons, skunks, and invasive fire ants who raid their nests.

These turtles may spend more than a year in their nest before emerging into the open world. Chicken turtles mate in fall but females can retain sperm in their reproductive tract until the following spring, so nests may be laid in either spring or fall. Young females only lay a single clutch of 5 to 15 eggs in loose soil, though older females are known to produce up to two nests each year. The eggs won't start incubating until the temperature in the nest becomes warm enough, and after that it takes about three months for the babies to develop. If it's too cold outside to venture out, they'll stay in the nest until the following spring.

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