Turtle Pic

They have good reach, be careful!!
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I can honestly say that's one ugly turtle. Better to use the shovel on it after slowing him down with a few bullets and harvesting seven different kinds of meat.

:thumbup: They are tasty!
 
I hate those things. I don't say this about many animals, but I vote termination. We have some good small mouth streams in my area that are great to wade fish, but you always have to be worried about one of these things taking a toe off. This was posted awhile back:

[youtube]Gn8EQ0azXpQ[/youtube]
 
That has to be the oldest snapper I've seen in a long time or he has some kind of gout! It looks to be a female just by the tail length, but I couldn't tell from just a picture. They are moving right now looking for nesting sites. I almost got flattened by a semi in '03 moving one of those boogers from the road.
 
Common snapper, yes.
I have one almost that size captive in a 100gal stocktank... he needs a new place soon.
I caught him about four years ago as a half-dollar sized baby and the bigger he grows, the meaner he gets. He wouldn't bite at first but now it's a challenge just to adjust his filter
hoses without getting attacked :-)
 
i seen some bigguns' in florida on the side of the road...they look mean as hell.

Great picture, as said it does look to be fairly old.
 
He looks pissed...

I try and always stop and help turtles across the road.
 
Common snapper, yes.
I have one almost that size captive in a 100gal stocktank... he needs a new place soon.
I caught him about four years ago as a half-dollar sized baby and the bigger he grows, the meaner he gets. He wouldn't bite at first but now it's a challenge just to adjust his filter
hoses without getting attacked :-)

Pics please!!!
 
I've rescued a few of them crossing roads also. Typicall turtles can be picked up by the shell just in front of the rear legs...NOT snappers. As mentioned they have great reach and a NASTY disposition. They get to hissing and rise up on their legs when provoked.

I've had people also say they have to be picked up by the tail. Didn't sound right as they get BIG! I like turtles and have moved quite a few out of the road.

What worked well on one ornery snapper was a large stick. I tried to usher it along and he clamped down on the stick. I was able to lift it up and carry it to the side of the road.

Peter
 
We have some good small mouth streams in my area that are great to wade fish, but you always have to be worried about one of these things taking a toe off.

According to some turtle experts that I've spoken with, snappers are only aggressive when they're out of the water. In the water, they'll just get out of the way and hide.
 
Grab the base of the tail and slide a hand under the plastron and pick the snapper up.
Yes, in the water, snappers are inoffensive.
I love snappers!
 
I don't think wild ones will ever bite you in the water, they're actually very
shy and skittish, doing everything possible to avoid people. But get one cornered...

Some in captivity, like mine, don't bite so much because they are aggressive
they just associate people with food and assume anything I put in the tank
is edible including fingers.

I'll try to post pics later:)
 
I don't think wild ones will ever bite you in the water,
I have a friend that was bog turtle hunting with another friend. The practice uses a broom stick to find the bog turtle, then reaching down in the mud and picking it up. The story goes that it was his first time up, and his guide reached out to pick one up, and up, out of the water and the muck, was a snapping turtle attached to splinters of his thumb. I've seen the scar, its nasty! Turns out the bog turtle he thought he was grabbing was a snapper head.


Not a snapper but:
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I caught this three hours ago on my way home! He was out crossing the road near one of my study areas.

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^Whoa! I thought you weren't supposed to pick em up like that?

What'd you do with it?
 
I brought him home of course. Figured he'll live in the bath tub...

Actually I just moved him across the road. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people that run them over for kicks. Holding him like that was because he was so heavy. I knew exactly how long his neck was because he tried to bite me quite a few times while I was picking him up. If he was a little smaller I would have put one hand on the front of the shell just above the head but his neck was so fat that when I picked him up like that and he tried to bite me (they can bite nearly straight up) his neck almost pushed my hand off his shell which could have potentially made me drop him, so I had to switch it up a bit. The way I was holding him is safe but you will get scratched up by the claws. He tried to bite me several times while holding him in that position but his head could not reach me because his front legs were to fat and blocked him. I only knew I could pick him up like that because I saw that happen repeatedly while he was on the ground. I certainly wouldn't make a habit of picking them up like that if it can be avoided.
 
If you have a tire iron or walkin stick...you can even cut or pick up a small branch. Place in front of face, he latches down...carry away. Done this plenty of times. Snappers are hell on wheels.
 
I once pulled into the lane I where I used to live to see my city raised wife and her friend carrying a good large (downstate NY) snapper across the lane to safety. They were carrying it like they were burping a baby. By the time I got close they were putting it down. They said it was a friendly turtle. I showed them how friendly they could be with a window scraper which it bit in half.
 
Yesterday must have been snapper day. Caught this guy on the campus where I work. Not as big as the one Md 25v caught but still big enough to damage some of the kids here if he had been allowed to stay. My size 10 boot is in the pic for size comparison.

Joe,

How do you tell male/female in turtles?

David

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