Monday, June 10, 2013

Just how many Snapping Turtles does one really need?

A couple of years ago when this monster crawled out of my pond (if you missed the story about my pond click here and here) to lay eggs in one of my garden beds (I know most of these eggs did not hatch because I inadvertently dug most of them up several weeks later), I thought it was pretty cool.  Now that's a turtle!

June 11, 2011

Then this somewhat smaller prehistoric monster crawled out of the pond just a few days ago to lay her eggs in my driveway.  I took some pictures and left her to it, but as I walked off, I was kind of wondering if I really wanted all those snapping turtle eggs hatching out in my driveway and moving into my pond.  I am much happier with the four painted turtles that  have taken up residence as well.  They are much nicer neighbors.

June 7, 2013

Before I  had my pond re-dug last year, there were several people who were quite disappointing in me for doing it.  They didn't want me to disturb the few creatures who were living in it.  There were some frogs and salamanders, but mostly it produced a lot of mosquitoes.  I am glad I didn't listen to them.  The shear number and variety of critters who have moved into my pond in just 2 seasons is absolutely amazing.  It just goes to show that sometimes you have to tear things up to put them right again.

But I digress.

This afternoon, when yet another prehistoric-monster-turtle crawled out of my pond to lay yet more eggs in my driveway, I started thinking about my little catfish, that I had just gone to considerable trouble to get, and thinking even more about my own little toes dangling about in the water and I began to wonder just how many ginormous snapping turtles one really needs to have living in one's pond.

June 10, 2013

So, I decided that this particular monster could go live in a beaver pond down the road from me where she would have LOTS of space and lots of little fish to eat.  But no toes.  Everyone has to deal with the occasional disappointment in life after all, even turtles.

I am not usually an advocate for moving animals and dropping them into unknown situations or habitats, but I figured if anyone is equipped to handle it, it is this creature.

I wish you could see what she looks like when she is up on her feet walking around, she is nearly a foot tall when she is not hunkered down!  I do kind of wonder if this is the same turtle as the one in the fist picture from 2011.  She seems to be about the right size and I am rather hoping that there aren't a whole lot more like this swimming around in the pond just waiting for me to feed them some more catfish or some nice juicy toes.

About fifteen pounds of very angry turtle I would guess...

And, just in case you were ever wondering what the definition of the term "malevolent stare" is, this is it.

12 comments:

  1. LOL... Love the "malevolent stare" picture!

    ReplyDelete
  2. It's too bad the males don't come out often they would be good to relocate too. Can you watch for the eggs to hatch and quickly relocate the babies to the beaver pond? Di

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'm not sure why, but I have a great love of turtles.

    But how many snapping turtles does one need? :-) As many as YOU have.

    Lovely post!

    Pearl

    ReplyDelete
  4. You're a very kind relocater!

    Nancy in Iowa

    ReplyDelete
  5. this is so funny! i did the EXACT same thing this past week! and even in the EXACT same type of gray plastic bin container! i transported a very angry momma turtle down the back road to a pond that sits very close to the ditch. i hate confusing them, but i can't handle them snapping our duck's legs and taking the ducklings like popcorn off the pond surface!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh my gosh... My husband just warned me on Sunday afternoon to LEAVE THEM ALONE! I saw one at least as big as yours going down our road one day last week. I pick up the box turtles frequently, but snappers.... no, I just wish them the best from a distance. I saw a huge one at my old place, and watched him trundle down to the creek behind the house. I always was afraid in the creek after that!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Thank you for relocating her and not killing her. They are beautiful and she deserves to live.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for linking up to the earlier pond posts which I read at the time, but in the photos the pond doesn't look as deep as ten feet!! which is plenty of swimming room. Answered my question about the water source and got my answer about the turtles: thanks for this post too.

    Now, can we have a photo of the whole filled up pond? your new swimming pool?

    ReplyDelete
  9. Yeah I'd be relocating those snappers AND those eggs indeed! Love that you stocked the catfish and how wonderful to have a pond!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Snappers can travel quite a distance, especially when the females are laying eggs. You might want to do some research for your area to see which type of snapper you have and their nesting habits. I prefer the painted water turtles too.

    Recently at the beach I thought I saw a snapper upside down at some curbing in front of a house near where we were staying. I used a walking stick to flip it and could then tell it was water turtle and not a snapper :). I saw the female (you can tell by the bottom of the shell)... wandering around the neighborhood for several days -- and then finally heading back to the neighborhood pond. My guess, she was nesting well away from the water she normally frequents.

    M in NC

    ReplyDelete
  11. i'm so glad you commented today! i couldn't remember which blog i had seen this post on as i wanted to reference it in my post today! i've now amended my post to add a link back to yours! :)

    ReplyDelete
  12. Fantastic animals but not so funny to have around the house.
    Nice pictures:)

    ReplyDelete