OP
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Here it is, it's a soft shell turtle. Cute huh?
Roakill Surprise
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Bird
Rest in Peace
When I was a kid I ate a couple of those soft shelled turtles; made good turtle soup.
OP
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Did they jump at you too? I feel pretty sure this thing would have chased me back to the truck had I not backed off. I still can't get over this jumping thing. Lol!
Bird
Rest in Peace
Nope, never knew of a soft shelled turtle to be aggressive, but guess any of them could be if they felt threatened. We sometimes caught them on fish hooks when fishing for catfish. The first time I made turtle soup, I had two small turtles I'd caught; not much bigger than saucers and they made good soup and the meat was good. The next time, I caught one that weighed 8 pounds. The soup was good, but the meat was too tough to chew /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif so I never tried it again.
Taylortractornut
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Yeah it made me sick to see the cat pancake all painted upo with a bow on its neck. The same fella had a hal lab half Pitbull mix and a pit bull that didnt get along he brainstormed and chained them together with a 2 foot chain.
Harv Know what you mean about the trying to save a turtle and someone swerver and run over it. I used to drive an 84 S10 to work oneday i saw a big mud turtle in the center line i gripped the wheel put my welding glove on, threw the door open and scooped him up five miles per hour hung out of a truck its a funny sight. I guess i learned from my brother we were driving down a 2 lan paved highway when we saw a spot moving acroos the centerline We had a D9 Cat on the back of the lowboy got stopped and looked at the spec. It was a tumblebug rolling this 2 inch manure ball across the road. When he got pat the crown it went quickly. My brothers worker look at him funny and all my brtoher said is all us earthmovers need stick togtherlol.
I know we should let nature take its course but like the time i found some near dead coyote pups at the landfill where i work, I couldnt shoot them didnt want to see them starve or die from the mange, so we fed them and put them in a coyote pen and got there mange stopped. I had folks here shoot at them an there excuse was there killin cattle, The next day the game warden had pictures of the farmers 2 rottweilers killing goats and a calf.
Harv Know what you mean about the trying to save a turtle and someone swerver and run over it. I used to drive an 84 S10 to work oneday i saw a big mud turtle in the center line i gripped the wheel put my welding glove on, threw the door open and scooped him up five miles per hour hung out of a truck its a funny sight. I guess i learned from my brother we were driving down a 2 lan paved highway when we saw a spot moving acroos the centerline We had a D9 Cat on the back of the lowboy got stopped and looked at the spec. It was a tumblebug rolling this 2 inch manure ball across the road. When he got pat the crown it went quickly. My brothers worker look at him funny and all my brtoher said is all us earthmovers need stick togtherlol.
I know we should let nature take its course but like the time i found some near dead coyote pups at the landfill where i work, I couldnt shoot them didnt want to see them starve or die from the mange, so we fed them and put them in a coyote pen and got there mange stopped. I had folks here shoot at them an there excuse was there killin cattle, The next day the game warden had pictures of the farmers 2 rottweilers killing goats and a calf.
RichZ
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Cindi, if that turtle was a soft shell turtle it was harmless, but the hiss a turtle makes is alarming. The hiss is actually the air being forced out of their lungs by their bodies being compressed as they move in their shell. Most turtles can spring their legs out quickly for one quick jump, but that's it.
The exception is snapping turtles. Their bottom shell is much smaller than that of most turtles, allowing them much more movement. They can run and jump, and they're fast! Very fast!! For short bursts that is.
Around here, in upstate New York, in early summer, the female snappers come out of ponds, lakes and streams to lay their eggs in sand and gravel. They're big turtles, they can be one to two feet long. They often cross roads, and as you notice, people will run them over. My wife and I keep shovels in our trucks all year. During the winter, we use them in case we get stuck in a snowdrift. During the summer, we use them to push or pull female snapping turtles out of harm's way. You gotta be careful with them, if you get too close theyll strike at you like a snake. But they don't deserve to be squashed by cars.
Interestingly, though, when they're in water, they're pretty harmless. I've even stepped on them wadding in our creek, thought I was standing on a rock, when the rock suddenly started moving! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif The turtle could've taken off several of my toes, but they just move away. They're not scared in water, because they're graceful swimmers, but on land they're clummsy and defensive. Can't blame them for that!
The exception is snapping turtles. Their bottom shell is much smaller than that of most turtles, allowing them much more movement. They can run and jump, and they're fast! Very fast!! For short bursts that is.
Around here, in upstate New York, in early summer, the female snappers come out of ponds, lakes and streams to lay their eggs in sand and gravel. They're big turtles, they can be one to two feet long. They often cross roads, and as you notice, people will run them over. My wife and I keep shovels in our trucks all year. During the winter, we use them in case we get stuck in a snowdrift. During the summer, we use them to push or pull female snapping turtles out of harm's way. You gotta be careful with them, if you get too close theyll strike at you like a snake. But they don't deserve to be squashed by cars.
Interestingly, though, when they're in water, they're pretty harmless. I've even stepped on them wadding in our creek, thought I was standing on a rock, when the rock suddenly started moving! /forums/images/graemlins/blush.gif The turtle could've taken off several of my toes, but they just move away. They're not scared in water, because they're graceful swimmers, but on land they're clummsy and defensive. Can't blame them for that!
OP
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I imagine they feel pretty vulnerable. if we humans have caught on to the fact that they are pretty much fair game in the road, no reason to asume they haven't.
