Ohio Outdoors: Remarkable reptiles

In last month’s column (April Showers bring Vernal Pools) I talked a lot about Ohio’s native amphibians (frogs, toads, and salamanders). This month I want to talk about Ohio’s native reptiles, more than half of which can be found in Portage County. Reptiles are cold-blooded (the scientific term is ectothermic), breathe air, and are covered with scales. The buckeye state has over 45 native species of reptiles. Of those, 12 are turtles.

Turtles have changed very little in the past 200 million years. These living fossils have been inhabiting the woodlands and waterways of Ohio since the Triassic period. Most turtles have long life spans with some going past the century mark. While turtles have a reputation for being slow, this is really only true of land-based turtles like tortoises and box turtles. They don’t need to be fast because they eat vegetation which they don’t have to chase. Their thick shells and heavily scaled legs protect them from attack. Many aquatic turtles can swim very quickly in order to catch their prey, things like invertebrates, frogs and fish. Ohio’s largest and longest living turtle, the snapping turtle, sits in the mud at the bottom of ponds and slow-moving waterways and catches its prey with a lightning-fast chomp. These heavy weights can weigh up to 35 pounds and they will consume anything they can catch and swallow including rodents and birds.