Alligator Snappers are the largest freshwater turtle in North America. Verifiable Record is 247lbs.
They do no lay eggs every year. Rather every other and sometimes every third year.
Average Clutch Size: 28 to 32 Eggs
The species is far less aggressive than its cousins the common snapper. Far more powerful bite however.
Species not able to colonize by land. Restricted to movement by waterway only. Ranges from Florida Panhandle west to east Texas. north to southeast Kansas and back east to southwest Indiana. Mississippi basin being the heart of the range.
Large specimens can go over one year without feeding with marginal weight loss.
As many as four / fifths of this species have been removed from the wild for food.
Upwards of 90% of nests are predated by raccoons and other predators. Fire ants continue to plague any ground nesting fauna at an increasing rate.
The Alligator snapping turtle is protected in every state it occurs in from commercial trapping.
Long range prognosis for recovery is poor. Without State intervention of captive bred well started yearlings restoration to former status is highly improbable.
