Terrific Turtles

         In winter, turtles crawl into their shell, go in the mud and hibernate until spring.  In the summer, turtles cool themselves by going into shade because they cannot regulate their body temperature.  The top shell of a turtle is called a carapace; its undershell is called a clastron. Turtles eat worms, insects, fish, and a variety of plants. Turtles are intelligent, always alert, and have excellent eyesight. Turtle eggs are of different sizes: big, medium, and little. The green seaturtle produce large eggs. The snapping turtle makes medium size eggs while the painted turtle eggs are the smallest. 

         The loggerhead sea turtle has flippers, not legs. Its front flippers are too big to fit in its shell. The snapping turtle is smart and very sensitive to vibrations, sound, and touch. To attract fish, it uses its wormlike tongue and waves it so it looks like a worm. The gopher turtle lives in a hole and shares it with other animals such as the diamondback rattlesnake. 

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Arnosky, Jim. All About Turtles. NY: Scholastic Press, 2000.