alligator snapping turtle is an opportunistic feeder that is almost entirely carnivorous. It relies on both live food caught by itself and dead organisms which it scavenges. In general, it will eat almost anything it can catch. Fishermen have glorified the species' ability to catch fish and to deplete fish populations, whereas in fact it largely targets any abundant and easily caught prey, and rarely has any extensive deleterious effect on fish populations. Its natural diet consists primarily of fish and fish carcasses, mollusks, carrion, and amphibians, but it is also known to eat snakes, snails, worms and other invertebrates, crawfish, insects, water birds, aquatic plants, other turtles and sometimes even small alligators. In one study conducted in Louisiana, 79.8% of the stomach contents of adult alligator snapping turtles was found to be composed of other turtles, although the resistance of shell and reptile-bone fragments to digestion may have led these fragments to remain longer in the digestive tract than other items. This species may also, on occasion, prey on aquatic rodents, including nutrias and muskrats or even snatch small to mid-sized other mammals, including squirrels, mice, opossums, raccoons, and armadillos when they attempt to swim or come near the water's edge. The alligator snapping turtle seemingly most often hunts at night. It may also hunt diurnally, however. By day, it may try to attract fish and other prey by sitting quietly at the bottom of murky water and letting its jaws hang open to reveal its tongue appendage, which looks like a small, pink, worm in the back of its gray mouth, and lure the prey into striking distance. The vermiform tongue imitates the movements of a worm, luring prey to the turtle's mouth. The mouth is then closed with tremendous speed and force, completing the ambush. Although the turtle does not actively hunt its prey, it can detect chemosensory cues from prey, like the mud turtle in order to choose the location in which it is most likely to catch food. Small fish, such as minnows, are often caught in this way by younger alligator snapping turtles, whereas adults must eat a greater quantity per day and must forage more actively. Though not a regular food source for them, adult alligator snappers have even been known to kill and eat small American alligators. In captivity, it may consume almost any kind of meat provided, including beef, chicken, rabbit,