turtle/pond question

[MikeBurr]

I think this year I'm going to shoot them. We have three ponds, one large and a couple of smaller ones. We also have pet ducks that we keep on one pond. Last year we could not get the ducks to go into the water, not even for food. After a couple of weeks, I finally shot 2 of the snapping turtles that were in the pond. Next day, the ducks were in the water...
On our big ponds, we may have a duck or two that land, but they never stay around. I think I need to get rid of some snapping turtles.

And I could never eat one of those things - they stink like crazy.....

 

[MossRoad]

Instead of shooting them and wasting the meat, see if you can find someone that would like to trap them and use the meat, at least. Turtle traps are pretty much just baited wire cages that the turtles can get in, but not out. It would be a shame to waste a large turtle like that.

 

[EddieWalker]

Around Houston, I think gators would be more of a problem than turtles. Have any of them on your place?

How far North are you? We have Aligators all over my area and further North. The Sabine River is full of them!!! If you ever drive Highway 80, your in Gator country!!!

I'm more worried about them ending up in my ponds than snapping turtles.

Eddie

 

[MossRoad]

I guess Indiana tornados aren't so bad after all. At least you can see them coming.... but gators "might be" in the swimming hole... YIKES!!!!

 

[anthonyk]

Thanks for all the tips.
These are not the protected alligator snappers. Just plain ol' dumb snappers. I'm not much into eating turtle, (probably because I don't know how to clean and cook them), but a friend of mine is.
I'll see if he wants 'em. If not, it's .22 time.

thanks again ya'll,

anthony

 

[wushaw]

Thanks for all the tips.
These are not the protected alligator snappers. Just plain ol' dumb snappers. I'm not much into eating turtle, (probably because I don't know how to clean and cook them), but a friend of mine is.
I'll see if he wants 'em. If not, it's .22 time.

thanks again ya'll,

anthony

Then may I suggest a trap that I built as a kid and it caught all red and yellow eared turtles out of a pond except for the only alligator snapper.

Get a 55gal drum and mount a 1X6 or 1X12 board hinged just offset enough so it will lay in the water...outside of drum then put drum in water about 3/4 the way deep or more and when they get on the board they will go to the end and they will go into the drum with out the ability to get out.
See hardshell turtles like to sun themselves and they will climb up there to get the sun, be sure to put it in the open.

This trap will work when you don't have to.

 

[N80]

I'm in the minority here but I'd suggest that you leave them alone. I doubt they make a real dent in the fish population. Stories of them eating ducks, geese, dogs, small children and cows might be true but are hardly the norm.

 

[Coyote]

We put traps in our 10 acre lake and caught some huge snappers! 3 ft across their backs! They were eating ducks, and large mouth bass. If you trap them alive you can relocate them or dispatch 'em.

I've got a small pond, less than an acre, and it's become the home of about half a dozen large snapping turtles. They don't bother me, but a friend said they would really cut down on my fish, and recommended shooting them.
I don't really want to unless I have to.
Does anyone know if that's true?

thanks,

anthony

 

[archerynut]

From what the previous owners have said about the snapping turtles at my new house they are pretty fierce. Just have to relay the story of when the snapping turtle bit the tail off of the pet dalmation that used to like to play in the water. Quite a mess, expensive vet visit, many dead turtles to follow. Haven't seen any yet, but my dog like to play in the water so I will eliminate without prejudice any snapper that I see. My dog is quite attached to her tail.

 

[N80]

Your dog is a lot more likely to lose his tail getting it slammed in a door than bitten off by a snapping turtle. But if you want to shoot turtles in the name of saving your dog's tail, it would only make sense to remove all your doors too.

We've caught some biggies in beaver traps on my lake, which is full of them. Not only does my Labrador (who spends countless hours in the lake full of snapping turtles) still have his tail, none of the beavers we've caught have had any of their tails missing from turtle bites and they spend their whole life with snappers.

But believe me, I'm not here in the defense of snapping turtles. If someone wants to shoot them, even for fun, that's fine, but justifying it based on protecting wildlife and gamefish is unfounded. That sort of thinking severely depleted the Eastern US of hawks and owls early in the 1900's.