A turtle’s legs may move slowly, but its neck can move with lightning speed. The neck muscles are extremely flexible, and the skin is very loose. This allows the turtle to pull its whole neck inside the shell in case of danger.

Not all turtles can hide their heads inside their shells, however. Sea turtle shells barely cover the animal’s back and provide no protection to the head or legs. And tortoises must protect their faces by hiding behind the tough scales on their front legs.

Hunting style:

Some turtles are meat-eaters. The alligator snapping turtle — a big, lazy turtle almost four feet long and weighing as much as 200 pounds — just lies in muddy water where fish can’t see it. When it gets hungry, it opens its mouth and wiggles its bright red tongue. Fish often mistake the tongue for a worm and swim right inside the turtle’s gaping mouth. Snap! Just like that, the turtle has its meal.

The common snapping turtle is a more aggressive hunter. Its powerful jaws can close around large fish — and occasionally even ducks.

Favourite food:

Turtles have no teeth, but the edges of their jaws are very sharp. This allows turtles to eat many different kinds of foods. Depending on the species, turtles and tortoises will munch on everything from desert flowers to underwater reeds. Fish and frogs are also popular menu items, and the most aggressive turtles will even attack ducks.

Baby turtles:

To make a nest, the female sea turtle digs a hole in the sand. She uses her back legs to scoop the dirt and flings it out until she has dug a pit as deep as she can reach. Then she deposits her eggs. Large turtles generally lay more eggs than smaller turtles do.

A female sea turtle may lay as many as 200 eggs in a nest. She covers the nest with damp soil and packs it firmly. This keeps the eggs warm and moist until they are ready to hatch.

After two or three months, young hatchlings dig their way out and try to get to the water as quickly as possible. So many are eaten either before or after reaching the sea, however, that only one or two from a nest will live to adulthood.

Their home:

Turtles live in all but the coldest parts of the world — they live in jungles, mountains, rivers, deserts, and in the sea. There are 200 species of turtles and tortoises that fit into three basic types: freshwater turtles, which prefer rivers and ponds; tortoises, which live on dry land; and sea turtles, which live in the ocean.

A small group of turtles outside these three categories is the terrapins, which spend a lot of time on land but can swim as well as freshwater turtles.

Of the 200 species of turtles and tortoises on earth today, 96 are threatened, some critically so. All sea turtles are endangered; all giant tortoises are threatened. Many are killed by longline fishermen or caught in drift nets. Ocean pollution and oil spills also take their toll. Still, people are trying to help. Tourists vacationing on some of the tropical islands that attract turtles have been known to flock to the beach to turn wayward turtles in the right direction. Without the help of many individuals and organisations, sea turtles may be destined for extinction.