Geography

• The common snapping turtle lives from southern sections of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Atlantic Coast westward to the Rocky Mountains. The alligator snapper lives in the southeastern states.
  
  

Size

• The alligator snapping turtle is the much larger of the two types, with some growing as large as 200 pounds. The common snapper will typically weigh between 10 and 35 pounds and have an upper shell up to a foot long.
  
  

Behavior

• The snapping turtle will try to bite if it feels threatened by an individual that cuts it off from water, where it spends the vast majority of its time. Once in the water it will quickly retreat when confronted.
  
  

Habitat

• The common snapper will inhabit ponds, rivers, streams and swamps. The alligator snapping turtle prefers deeper waters and it will reside in the pools of large rivers as well as in oxbow lakes---a portion of a river that erosion cuts off from the main current.
  
  

Misconceptions

• While snapping turtles will occasionally eat ducklings, they do not devour enough to make a significant impact on the duck populations. The ones they do consume are often the weak and sick that cannot escape them, which helps keep diseases from spreading.