Momma Turtle
- Thread starter DavidInNH
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I have a small pone (40' x 50' MOL) in the back yard. It has LOTS of frogs. If the egg clusters are any indication, this year will be really noisy. We have one frog that is there every year (so claim the kids) that the kids named Hannibal. If you poke a stick near him, he will bite the end of the stick... The turtle was heading the other direction - towards a creek that is still pretty noisy with runoff this time of year.
I wonder if you can train a snapper to eat beavers.../w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif
-david
I wonder if you can train a snapper to eat beavers.../w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif
-david
njrqs
Veteran Member
We get similar looking things over here. Sure have long necks too !
I see them walking across roads. Often away from dams so they mustn't need to spend all their life near water.
Neighbour's kid gave me one and I put it in our dam. Haven't seen it since.
Cheers
I see them walking across roads. Often away from dams so they mustn't need to spend all their life near water.
Neighbour's kid gave me one and I put it in our dam. Haven't seen it since.
Cheers
Egon
Epic Contributor
Neil:
Hear they make good soup.
Egon
Hear they make good soup.
Egon
8NTX
Gold Member
You usually can catch a snapper with a shovel. Just put it in front of his face and he will bite it and hang on. Put it in the back of your pickup or other solid enclosure, and relocate it to a remote area away from your home. Or follow the recipes above/w3tcompact/icons/tongue.gif. They can be dangerous to pets or small children.
Briarwood
Bronze Member
We have a number of snapping turtles in our 1 acre pond including one that is so large we named it Nessie. Used to think they were pretty harmless except for digging holes in the banks to lay eggs. I even felt sorry for one recently that had all its eggs dug up and eaten by a raccoon. I caught the coon in the act and it was even trying to turn the turtle over to get to new eggs as she was laying them. How could I feel empathy for such an ugly creature? Just that mother/baby thing I guess!
Well, I just found out what happened to a woodduck and three recently hatched little fuzzy ducklings. First the hen disappeared, then one of the ducklings each day. We also have two Canada geese with three goslings about the size of huge mallards. Yesterday, one of the goslings was literally screaming and splashing in the pond as the goose and gander raised a ruccas. It was obvious that something was trying to pull the gosling under and it was fighting for its life. I quickly launched our row boat and paddled out to the struggling gosling. I struck at the huge turtle under the water and it finally let go. I helped the gosling out of the water with a scoop of the paddle. He survived but now has a decided limp. I think his leg might have been dislocated. Today, he is keeping up with his two siblings albeit with his limp and he is sitting down more often to rest. I'm no fan of turtles, but I'm no fan of geese either that take up residence in your pond and leave their smelly excrement all over your yard. If I had minded my own business I would have had one less of the troublesome goose but, that was one drama I couldn't ignore. Well, at least now we know what happened to the woodduck family and we will not be dangling our feet over the side of the boat.
FWIW
Briarwood
Well, I just found out what happened to a woodduck and three recently hatched little fuzzy ducklings. First the hen disappeared, then one of the ducklings each day. We also have two Canada geese with three goslings about the size of huge mallards. Yesterday, one of the goslings was literally screaming and splashing in the pond as the goose and gander raised a ruccas. It was obvious that something was trying to pull the gosling under and it was fighting for its life. I quickly launched our row boat and paddled out to the struggling gosling. I struck at the huge turtle under the water and it finally let go. I helped the gosling out of the water with a scoop of the paddle. He survived but now has a decided limp. I think his leg might have been dislocated. Today, he is keeping up with his two siblings albeit with his limp and he is sitting down more often to rest. I'm no fan of turtles, but I'm no fan of geese either that take up residence in your pond and leave their smelly excrement all over your yard. If I had minded my own business I would have had one less of the troublesome goose but, that was one drama I couldn't ignore. Well, at least now we know what happened to the woodduck family and we will not be dangling our feet over the side of the boat.
FWIW
Briarwood
Chuck52
Veteran Member
I may have told this story here before. If so, bear with me and my old timer's disease.
We grew up in a small town in east Tennessee, and the farm ponds and creeks all had snappers. My older brother once decided to make some money by catching snappers from granny's pond and selling them to local folks who liked them for soup. They're really pretty easy to catch in the spring, because they're buried in the mud on the pond bottoms and somewhat sluggish. The way to go about it is to wade in the shallows until you step on one. Then reach down and grab him by the sides of the shell and throw him in a barrel. Big brother caught about eight dinner plate and larger sized specimens in a morning. He and a friend brought them home and wanted to start looking for customers. The snappers were all piled together in the barrel, and the boys were afraid they'd kill each other before they could be sold. The only place they couild find to pen them up was our screened back porch. They neglected to tell momma their plan. You know how snappers turn towards you, and open their mouths with a <font color=red>HISS</font color=red> when you come close? Momma's scream was much louder than the <font color=red>HISS</font color=red> from those eight snappers when she stepped out onto the porch. Big brother was the one limping around our house that evening!
Chuck
We grew up in a small town in east Tennessee, and the farm ponds and creeks all had snappers. My older brother once decided to make some money by catching snappers from granny's pond and selling them to local folks who liked them for soup. They're really pretty easy to catch in the spring, because they're buried in the mud on the pond bottoms and somewhat sluggish. The way to go about it is to wade in the shallows until you step on one. Then reach down and grab him by the sides of the shell and throw him in a barrel. Big brother caught about eight dinner plate and larger sized specimens in a morning. He and a friend brought them home and wanted to start looking for customers. The snappers were all piled together in the barrel, and the boys were afraid they'd kill each other before they could be sold. The only place they couild find to pen them up was our screened back porch. They neglected to tell momma their plan. You know how snappers turn towards you, and open their mouths with a <font color=red>HISS</font color=red> when you come close? Momma's scream was much louder than the <font color=red>HISS</font color=red> from those eight snappers when she stepped out onto the porch. Big brother was the one limping around our house that evening!
Chuck
DaRube
Bronze Member
Last weekend we had a huge snapper come on land from out of our pond. This one had a shell of larger than a foot, and taking the tail and neck into account, a total length approaching 2 1/2 feet.
In the spring, we had a family of geese on the pond, with two goslings. After a few days, there was one gosling, and a few days later, none to be seen. I think that the turtle is not lacking nutrition.
The local soil and water man told me that there are usually less than half a dozen turtles in a pond our size (1/4 acre).
A thread we had here a little of a month ago....most folks told me that the turtles are not agressive with people IN the water, but are fierce as all up on land. I still am not sure I want to chance it.
But I will be baiting a trap for these guys soon, as my sympathies lie with the waterfowl.
In the spring, we had a family of geese on the pond, with two goslings. After a few days, there was one gosling, and a few days later, none to be seen. I think that the turtle is not lacking nutrition.
The local soil and water man told me that there are usually less than half a dozen turtles in a pond our size (1/4 acre).
A thread we had here a little of a month ago....most folks told me that the turtles are not agressive with people IN the water, but are fierce as all up on land. I still am not sure I want to chance it.
But I will be baiting a trap for these guys soon, as my sympathies lie with the waterfowl.Von
Veteran Member, Advertiser
Well David, you are not alone, my daughter looks out the back window and yells "dad is that a turtle in the back yard?" Sure enough there is a snapper digging a hole to lay her eggs in the middle of the back yard. Its still out there digging away as I type this! The problem is the tractor weight will crush the nest when I mow the grass. So when she's done I am going to move the eggs to some sand in the woods. Or can you eat these eggs!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif