Turtles in Your Pocket: A Guide to Freshwater and Terrestrial Turtles of the Upper Midwest (Bur Oak Guide)

From the hefty alligator snapping turtle—the largest freshwater turtle in North America and the only turtle in the world with a predatory lure in its mouth—to the wood turtle, which uses “worm stomping” to catch earthworms, to the lovely ornate box turtle, which closes its shell completely for self-defense, the slow-but-sure turtle is an intriguing reptile. Terry VanDeWalle provides a complete description of each species, both male and female, along with distinguishing characteristics for fourteen subspecies, information about range and habitat, and natural history notes about behavior, hibernation, diet, and nesting. Two panels devoted to hatchlings provide short descriptions of the young of each species as well as photographs of some commonly seen young turtles.

Terry VanDeWalle has been researching reptiles and amphibians in the Midwest for more than twenty years. Author of Snakes and Lizards in Your Pocket: A Guide to Reptiles of the Upper Midwest (Iowa, 2010), he is a senior biologist with Stantec Consulting in Independence, Iowa. Wildlife photographer Suzanne Collins is an executive officer of the Center for North American Herpetology.