Cultural depictions of turtles Adventures in Wonderland". In the illustration by John Tenniel, the Mock Turtle is depicted as a turtle with the head, hooves, and tail of a calf; referencing the real ingredients of mock turtle soup. In the children's story, "Esio Trot" by Roald Dahl, a character named Mrs. Silver has a small pet tortoise, Alfie, who she loves very much. One morning, Mrs. Silver mentions to Mr. Hoppy that even though she has had Alfie for many years, her pet has only grown a tiny bit and has gained only 3 ounces in weight. She confesses that she wishes she knew
Turtle soup not have enough fat, and a bigger one would have too strong a flavor. In many jurisdictions, turtle soup is illegal because many species of turtle are listed as threatened or endangered, and cannot legally be captured, let alone killed. Generally speaking, turtle populations cannot quickly recover from the loss of a breeding adult; thus, killing these turtles to make soup can depress populations below sustainable levels. The common snapping turtle has also long been used in the United States, especially in the South. In this case the soup is commonly referred to as "snapper turtle soup", or simply "snapper