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Turtles

Alligators

Snapping Turtle

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Testudines

Family

Chelydridae (Snapping Turtles)

Genus

Chelydra

Species

C. serpentina

Binomial Name

Chelydra serpentina

  • This species BITES!

Snapping Turtle Images

How To Identify Snapping Turtles

  • Snapping Turtles grow to an average of 18.5 inches (47 cm) but can get much bigger with age and plenty of food.
  • They have:
    • Massive heads, with hooked jaws powered by strong biting muscles
    • Long, tapering tails spiked with large, sawtooth, triangular scales
    • Small, thin, cross-shaped plastrons
    • Domed carapaces with three rows of longitudinal keels (especially prominent in young turtles) and serrated scutes along the hind edges.
    • Toes end in long, strong, curved claws
  • Snapping Turtles like freshwater habitats with soft mud bottoms and lots of vegetation, where they hunt by ambush.
    • They bury themselves in the substrate, leaving only their eyes and nostrils exposed, then lunge out and snap at passing prey.
  • Snapping Turtles are omnivorous and eat:

Snapping Turtle Notes

  • Snapping Turtles can reach truly impressive sizes and weights, as in the case of the Snapping Turtle shown basking on a creek-side rock in the image gallery above.
  • In general, Snapping Turtles are bad-tempered and aggressive, especially in comparison to other turtle species.
    • Snapping Turtles tend to be most aggressive out of the water and will snap at anything that encroaches on their space.
    • When out of the water, they may feel more vulnerable because:
      • They are slow-moving on land and thus can’t flee threats quickly.
      • They can’t retract their bodies into their shells.
      • Their plastrons are reduced to mere cross-shaped structures that expose much of their soft bellies. While underwater, Snapping Turtles dig themselves into the substrate so no predator can attack them from below and they right themselves easily. But on land, these reptiles
  • Snapping Turtles stay in the water unless nesting, when females wander to find appropriate nest sites.
  • Snapping Turtles mate from May to November.
  • Female Snapping Turtles lay about 25 eggs in shallow nests, which hatch in about three months (Martof et al. 1980).
    • Baby Snapping Turtles are only about the size of a golf ball when they first hatch.

American Alligator

Phylum

Chordata

Class

Reptilia

Order

Crocodylia

Family

Alligatoridae (Alligators and Caimans)

Genus

Alligator

Species

A. mississippiensis

Binomial Name

Alligator mississippiensis

  • DANGEROUS! Stay away from these crocodylians!
  • Exercise extreme caution when in areas they inhabit, especially at or near the edges of bodies of water.
    • The presence of little alligators often indicates the presence of much larger adults.
  • Author’s Note: I have never encountered an American Alligator in the wild, and I am 100% OK with that. Very few animals scare me, but adult American Alligators manage the feat. I took the photo below with a telephoto lens from inside my car, doors locked, windows rolled up, and foot on the gas. American Alligators are truly magnificent beasts, worthy of our admiration, respect, and protection. But while I find them fascinating, I don’t need to find them in person…..if you know what I mean. I don’t care what you see on TV—take these reptilian predators seriously and avoid them as if your life depends on it.

American Alligator Images

How To Identify American Alligators

  • American Alligators are the largest reptile in North Carolina.
    • Adults can grow up to 19 feet 2 inches (5.84 meters) (Behler and King 2020), although most individuals are in the range of 6-8 feet (1.8-2.4 m).
  • Dark in color, with thick skin covered in non-overlapping scales or scutes; many scales contain bony plates called “osteoderms”, which essentially armor the alligators, especially on their backs.
    • Rows of sharp, pointed scales run lengthwise from their necks to the tip of their tails.
  • Broad heads with wide and rounded snouts.
    • Extremely powerful biting jaws equipped with large, widely-spaced, conical teeth perfectly adapted for grabbing and holding struggling prey.
      • A large tooth on each side of the lower jaw fit into a socket in the upper jaw when the mouth is closed.
      • Only the top teeth are visible when the reptiles close their jaws (Grigg and Kirshner 2015).
    • When submerged, special membranes slide over their eyes, and valves close off their ear holes and nostrils.
  • Two pairs of limbs ending in clawed feet.
    • Front feet are partially webbed and have five toes.
    • Hind feet are fully webbed and have four toes.
  • Long, powerful, muscular, laterally compressed tail.
  • American Alligators are found in the eastern part of North Carolina and live in freshwater habitats, including ponds, lakes, rivers, and swamps.
    • While seldom aggressive unless provoked, adult American Alligators are large, dangerous predators that can easily overpower and drown an adult human.
    • Under no circumstances should the average person deliberately seek out these reptiles.

American Alligator Notes

  • American Alligators aquatic, carnivorous, powerful, and dangerous.
  • They are active predators that submerge and either float motionlessly until prey wanders too close or slowly swim towards unwary prey.
    • Their broad snouts give them flat profiles, so that only their eyes and nostrils protrude above the surface while water hides the rest of their large bodies.
  • American Alligators feed on prey taken in and under the water, like fish, turtles, frogs, and snakes, as well as prey taken from the land along the waters’ edge, like birds and mammals.
    • Adult American Alligators are large enough to take prey as large as White-tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus).
    • Alligator teeth are poorly adapted for ripping or chewing.
      • American Alligators swallow small prey whole in a series of gulps.
      • They stash large prey to decay and soften for several days, then return to feed. They twist off chunks of rotting flesh by clamping their teeth into the prey and spinning their bodies with their powerful limbs and tail.
  • American Alligators hibernate in dens through the winter. Sometimes, these reptiles become locked into surface ice that freezes around their snouts, as their nostrils poke out of the water for air.
  • They mate in early spring after they emerge from hibernation.
    • Males bellow to attract females while partially submerged.
      • The vibration from these bellows jostles the water and makes it “dance”.
    • Females reach adulthood and sexual maturity in approximately 8-10 years, while males take 12-15 years to do so (Grigg and Kirshner 2015).
  • Females lay 25-60 hard-shelled eggs in nest mounds made of mud, leaves, and rotting organic vegetation (Behler and King 2020).
    • Alligator nests can be as large as 5 – 7 feet (1.5 – 2.1 meters) wide and 1.5 – 3 feet (46 – 91 cm) tall.
    • The rotting vegetation warms the eggs and helps the embryos develop.
    • Hatchling sex is determined by the temperature in the nest (see “temperature-dependent sex determination“):
      • Low incubation temperatures result in female hatchlings
      • Higher incubation temperatures result in male hatchlings
      • Hatchling sex is determined by approximately halfway through an embryo’s incubation (Grigg and Kirshner 2015).
  • American Alligator embryos incubate over a period of nine weeks. During this time, the female alligators remain near the nest and aggressively defend their eggs from predators.
    • Baby alligators signal readiness to hatch by crying out while still inside their egg shells. In response, the attentive mother alligators tear the nests apart to expose the hatchlings as they fight free of their egg shells.
  • Hatchlings are only about 9 – 10 inches (22.8 – 25.4 cm) long. Many fall prey to predators before reaching maturity and their full adult size, despite staying close to their mothers for 1-3 years after hatching (Behler and King 2020).
  • Adult, fully grown American Alligators have no natural predators in North Carolina beyond humans.
    • In Florida, American Alligators are threatened by invasive Burmese Pythons, which are the only animals powerful enough to kill full-sized alligators.
      • The pythons wrap their body coils around the alligators and constrict; the alligators either suffocate or drown, depending on the location in which they are attacked.