Behavior
Musk turtles are almost entirely aquatic, spending the vast majority of their time in shallow, heavily vegetated waters of slow moving creeks, or in ponds. They typically only venture onto land when the female lays her eggs, or in some cases, to bask. They can climb sloping, partially submerged tree trunks or branches to as much as 2 m (6.6 ft) above the water surface, and have been known to drop into boats or canoes passing underneath. Their defense mechanism is to excrete a musk scent from a small gland in their underside. This is used to scare away predators and natural enemies. Thi\eir defense gives them the name of Common Musk, or Stinkpot.
Read more about this topic: Sternotherus Odoratus
Famous quotes containing the word behavior:
“It is an open question whether any behavior based on fear of eternal punishment can be regarded as ethical or should be regarded as merely cowardly.”
—Margaret Mead (1901–1978)
“There are ... two minimum conditions necessary and sufficient for the existence of a legal system. On the one hand those rules of behavior which are valid according to the system’s ultimate criteria of validity must be generally obeyed, and on the other hand, its rules of recognition specifying the criteria of legal validity and its rules of change and adjudication must be effectively accepted as common public standards of official behavior by its officials.”
—H.L.A. (Herbert Lionel Adolphus)
“Excessive attention, even if it’s negative, is such a powerful “reward” to a child that it actually reinforces the undesirable behavior. You need to learn restraint, to respond to far fewer situations, to ask yourself questions like, “Is this really important?” “Could I let this behavior go?” “What would happen if I just wait?” “Could I lose by doing nothing?””
—Stanley Turecki (20th century)