Yellow Mud Turtle

Yellow Mud Turtle: (Kinosternon Flavescens)

Description: 31/2-63/8". Carapace olive to brown, smooth, keeless, and usually flattened; scutes dark-bordered. Elevated 9th and 10th marginal scutes (lacking in young). Plastron yellow to brown, with dark pigment along seams; double-hinged, with 11 scutes. Jaw and throat white or yellow, often spotted. Male has concavre plastron long, thickspinetipped tail; and rough scale patches on insides of hind legs. Juveniles have a dark spot at rear edge of each carapace scute.
Breeding: Nests in june in New Mexico. 1 clutch of 1-6 (usually 4) hard-shelled elliptical eggs. Sexual Maturity is reached in 6-7 years.
Range: N. Nebraska to Texas, e. and s. New Mexico, and se. Arizona. Illinois and adjacent Iowa border
Facts: At dawn or twighlight the yellow mud turtle may become encounterd foraging on land. It feeds on worms and arthropods, as well as snails and tadpoles. These turtles spend thier cooler months
under brush piles or leaf litter, in stump holes or muskrat dens, or under water buried in mud. Usually shy they do not attempt to bite.