Snapping turtles

sarti · Jun 28, 2008

My son found two large snapping turtles dead in the shallow water of our pond
today.. Any ideas what causes them to die like this?? To me it's no great loss
I was just curious if anybody would have a reason

Robert_in_NY · Jun 28, 2008

Could have been fighting. There was a large snapping turtle in our channel last year and it killed a smaller turtle there. I like them because they are unique but they kept digging up my garden to lay eggs so I started catching them and giving them to an Indian friend of mine.

3RRL · Jun 28, 2008

Were their carcasses marred like they had bitten each other? Any marks like that? Do you have any photos of them?
How about bullet holes?

MossRoad · Jun 29, 2008

3RRL said:
Were their carcasses marred like they had bitten each other? Any marks like that? Do you have any photos of them?
How about bullet holes?

Yeah. Were any parts missing like they were attacked or holes in them?

Paddy · Jun 29, 2008

If you can drag them away from the house and let the flesh rot away. The shells clean up real nice and are cool. I have several turtle shells that I have dried out. After they are clean, I hit them with a coat of varnish. It gives them the wet look. I also save the skull and position it with the shell. It all may sound odd, but when we have visitors to our home, they do attract a bit of attension!

When I was is college and on Spring break, I found a washed up sea turtle. The head was the size of a football. I tried getting the skull back to home but my car mates said either me and my skull or just the skull must GO!

Patrick T