Behavior:
Eastern musk turtles, also known as stinkpot turtles, are named after the strong smell they produce as self-defense. They spend most of their time in the water but will bask on logs. They live in slow-moving waters with plenty of vegetation. Eastern musk turtles aren’t the best swimmers and instead “walk” along the bottom and hide under sunken logs and debris. To help them spend so much time underwater, the eastern musk turtle has tiny buds called papillae that draw in oxygen from the water, similar to the gills on a fish.
