Video: The Unique Way This New York Turtle Hunts for Food

A long-suspected (but never documented) behavior of one of New York's favorite species of turtle has finally been caught on camera.

There is no shortage of fascinating creatures in New York state, and from the world's fastest predators growing up on the Mid-Hudson Bridge to the hilarious moves of the American woodcock, most of them have been luckily caught on video. The same goes for the behavior of a hungry wood turtle.

Wood Turtles in New York Might Hunt with Their Feet

"For many years we've been fascinated by accounts of Wood Turtles displaying [an] incredible behavior", began a Facebook post from the Susquehannock Wildlife Society (below). "We had never seen [it] for ourselves until our Conservation Director John Garrison filmed one of our tracked male turtles from our research population showing the behavior right before our eyes".

Video of a Wood Turtle "Stomping for Worms"

The behavior, which seems to be corroborated in the comments of the video, centers around the wood turtle's hunting technique - allegedly using small stomps to simulate rainfall, which may entice worms to come to the earth's surface for the turtles to eat. They may not be the only animal with this type of strategy either.

Read More: Hilarious Woodcock Bird Shocks Hudson Valley, NY with Its Walk 

The aforementioned woodcock, which has one of the funniest walks in the animal kingdom (below), could very well be doing their own worm dances. While conclusive evidence is hard to find, some wildlife experts suspect that the woodcock strut may mimic another sound (a digging mole) that encourages worms to "escape" by emerging from the earth.

So are wood turtles and woodcocks expert hunters or just creative walkers? Either way, their tiny stomps are enough to make them some of the most mesmerizing creatures in New York state. Take a look at some more adorable Hudson Valley, NY wildlife below.