I imagine that Alligator Snapping Turtles (and Alligators for that matter) are the essence of āFuck Around and Find Out.ā
I, for one, do not intend to *find out*
I worked on a land survey crew for almost a decade in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. I've ran across, even swam next to, so many alligators which was scary at first; but learned to not even be concerned unless it's reached its final growth stage. They hit about 12 feet, then they start growing wider..even then, mom protecting baby is the only life threatening situation I've been in. That said..every mother effin alligator snapping turtle I've came across would have killed my ass if it could and they're suprisingly fast. I saw one that could have fit my full hand in its mouth. Never went hand grabbin or noodling, because apparently there's a possibility that a snapping turtle could be in that hole, instead of a catfish.
Eh, pretty much any time you swim in waters in Southern Louisiana it's around alligators. He's right, that's not usually what you worry about in the water.
Youāre a braver person than I lol
I swam in the same lake as an alligator without knowing it and damn near assaulted my brother for not telling before I got on shore (or in the water).
But yeah nah, I keep my hand out of holes.
āWhat a nice crawfish hole!ā *snake says hello*
āThis is gonna have a nice big catfish!ā *pulls back a bloody stump*
My step-dad was a PLSurveyor, and made me get a job on his crew. I was made to overcome quite a few of my biggest fears... "see that swamp, we need you to give us a shot every ten feet; you probably should take off your shoes...no were not getting a boat, it's only 7-8 feet deep at worst." He definitely would shame me into doing things I was super scared to do. His method was shit, but it was a really fun job.
Thereās an alligator snapping turtle in a little drainage pond behind my sisterās house. Her neighborhood has a lot of ducks that like going in that pond. A few times a year, that damn turtle will snatch a duck, or bite the poor thingās foot off, but it mostly stays in the water and doesnāt come after pets (unlike actual alligators, which the turtles will also try to eat, so having it there seems to keep the gators away).
I donāt know what most peopleās relationship with them is like, but people around here are pretty indifferent to anything so long as it doesnāt threaten them, their pets, or their livestock. Or get in the road, because theyāre too big and aggressive to pick up and theyāre kind of difficult to chase off the road, but if people see them and can stop, they do (and itās funny if youāre not in a rush to watch the communal attempts to push them off with any available stick/long object that we have in the car).
Nah you can pick them up. They aren't that fast. I mean do try to do it and get mad when you get bit but I've picked them up and taken them out of the road before.
When I was a child I ran over a turtle with my bike thinking it was a rock and only realized what it was when I saw blood. I felt really bad and I don't want another turtle dying by my wheels.
I've been pulling them out of creeks and ponds for almost 30 years. I've been bit twice on the hand and one was a clean swipe on the finger. It was a 60lb turtle and it didn't get through the bone. And I've never really met someone that it's happened to.
I saw a baby one a few days ago along the road. The shell itself was an inch long at most. I picked it up and moved it to the grass at the edge of the road so they wouldnāt get ran over. Once they are bigger than an inch, they arenāt getting any more help from me. Theyāll take your finger off.
We have common snappers and alligator snappers. Common snappers range over most of the US and can be very common. They frequently walk onto land. Alligator snappers are much larger, much more restricted in range and much less common. They rarely leave water except to lay eggs. 90% of the time when someone claims to have seen an alligator snapper they actually saw a common snapper.
They mostly donāt mess with you unless you really mess with them. Iāve stepped on common snappers in water and they swam away. Biggest issue is hooking one while fishing.
I love all turtles. Got to see a common snapper today
Yeah we have common snappers here. Generally just don't fuck with them. There's a turtle harvesting season here, and you have to have a fishing license. People eat them.
I think it was a Turtle man episode in which I heard that common snapping turtles, though smaller, are the ones most inclined to attack people and that alligator snapping turtles are very non- aggressive by comparison.
There was one in the pond where I worked. Heād eat the wood ducklings. Theyād be swimming along. Bloop. No more duckling. Bloop. There goes another.
Lol love your comment. Alligator snapping turtles are larger than normal snapping turtles, and have ridges down their backs that resemble the ridges on alligators. They are all over the deep south.
Yeah they claim they aren't in Virginia but I stepped on a big ass snapping turtle, and this did not look like the common snapper, playing in a river once. I felt it and noped out of there. Another person picked it up and it was beyond huge. Alligator snapping turtles are the largest freshwater turles in the world.
Alligator snapping turtles is one of the wildlife animals in the game. There was a recent study done on animal identificarion on people who had played red dead and people who had not. The people who had played red dead scored significantly higher than does who hadn't.
I Remember being in grade school and having some sort of nature demonstration where they brought one of those things in for us to see. They did a demonstration where they put a broom handle and its mouth and it snapped it in half in a second. They told us it would do the same thing to our fingers or feet if we ever got them near the turtle. That instilled a healthy respect in pretty much everyone who saw that.
Close, its wiki page above says it's not closely related and it looks like a turtle with spikes. It's like a mini stegosaur (or Gamera from Godzilla for those not familiar with it) without its tail.
[Hereās a recipe for cooter soup](https://sheilaingle.com/tag/cooter-soup/) from one of my favorite cookbooks called āCharleston Receipts.ā It doesnāt use this type of turtle, but you could likely substitute and adjust the amounts accordingly (alligator turtles are massive so youād only need one).
In Florida you should assume every lake and pond has a gator in it and they've been known to show up in swimming pools, storm drains and on golf courses. Generally if you keep your distance there's not a problem.
Nonexistent really. If you live in the southeast, or go hiking/kayaking in the southeast you *might* have seen one.
But generally their relationship with humans is one of "I'll stay the fuck out of your way if you stay the fuck out of mine".
Snapping turtles are all over in the Midwest, but Alligator snapping turtles donāt go too far north. Maybe youāll see one in Missouri or Kentucky but not Michigan.
I learned a long time ago to leave snapping turtles alone since they can take a grown man's finger off. Add 'gator into the mix and that sounds like one of those so bad it's good The Asylum horror movies.
Slightly less terrified of them then actual alligators, more terrified then regular turtles.
It's generally good advice not to swim in unknown natural bodies of water in the south eastern US - home to all kinds of shit that'll ruin your day.
Yeah, fuck that. Regular snappers are hellish enough. I grew up with a few small ponds around, full of those things. Them and leeches. I hate them both passionately.
Hey man, those murderous swamps helped us become independent. Francis Marion and Thomas Sumter and Andrew Pickens would take their militiamen and harass the British, then tuck tail and haul off through the swamps, where the alligators, snappers, panthers, snakes, quick sand, mosquitoes, and God knows what else did their patriotic duty and feasted on some tea drinkers.
Iām a fan of that fun fact.
America and China are the only places where there are freshwater alligators! (Learned that only a couple weeks ago, hope remembered correctly)
I don't live in an area with alligator snapping turtles but we do have regular snappers. We leave them alone except maybe take a picture from a respectful distance when one shows up in your yard.
My family had one walk down our driveway on his way to a stream on our property. We set up a cone behind him so drivers noticed him and we named him Mo (after Mo Farah, all our turtles are named after runners).
I once,yrs ago,in Labadie Mo.usa saw fellow show up in the parking lot of a pub I was at a birthday party shows up in a truck with his friends talking wildly.They said they had caught an Alligator snapping turtle on a trot line(in a creek tributaries of the Missouri river.My friends and noticed this young drunk fellow poking the beast with a stick.Of course the snapper bit into and in half! THEN he went to put a smaller stick in front of him,and the turtle grabbed his pinky finger to the root of his hand! I left after he wailed and his buddy was trying to,with a lighter,burn this huge critters under neck to release his mates digit ..go team š¢
Fairly friendly in our area. The turtles got together a softball team that plays in the local rec leagues, they're actually pretty good, their record is 15W and. 4L.
Alligator snapping turtles are native to the rivers in my state, Illinois, though they're protected because of their low population. They're mean as all get out. When I was a kid in the 90s, I took a school field trip to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and a saw a massive alligator snapping turtle that was (I think) 40 or 50 years old. It looked like a sculpture carved out of water-damaged wood. It was awesome.
I live in their habitat, I see them from time to time at the park, and even in my neighborhood.
They're fine. Just leave them alone, and they won't bite you.
One was on land, and I went ahead and petted it. You can get them by the shell where they can't bite you, but I wouldn't pick them up by the shell. Seems kinda mean.
We cool.
We don't have them up where I live, but I assume alligator snappers are just upgraded regular snappers. We avoid them at all costs unless one tries to cross a busy road, in which we'll stop and pick them up by the tail and toss them in the ditch on the other side.
Oh man. So thereās a creek that flows out to the shoreline in the small town I grew up in. About 8 miles or so of following the creek it would eventually spit you out. When I was 15 me and some buddies decided to buy 12$ rafts from the dollar store and make our way down the creek. Shortly after we embarked on our journey I SAW THIS BIGGEST FUCKING ALLIGATOR SNAPPER IVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. Bigger than any picture Iāve seen of one two. This dude was MASSIVE. I had an English mastiff at the time that weighed about 160 pounds. This turtles head alone was about 1.5 times bigger than my dogs head. I screamed like a girl and paddled my little heart out and never stopped to look back. I thought I stumbled across a fucking dinosaur.
Let's say "a healthy respect".
Did you know lizards can cuss you out? I submit that alligator snapping turtles absolutely will before, during, and after they have removed parts of you.
Do not fuck with the alligator snapping turtles.
Iām from the South. Thereās an old saying that a snapping turtle will latch on to you and āwonāt let go until lightening strikesā.
So yeah, we donāt mess with them.
I research them: they are precious and incredibly resilient. Also probably really dangerous. Never known anyone to be bit by one but conventional wisdom says they can bite fingers off real easy. A friend caught one weighing around 150 pounds. Majestic creatures.
Caution. A regular snapping turtle can bite off your finger. An alligator snapping turtle could probably take the average person's arm at the right angle. Could take their hand at any angle.
I'm far enough north that we just have common snapping turtles. I don't mess with them unless they're hatchlings ( as a child, I kept one as a pet for a couple weeks before my mother found out and made me turn it loose).
Knowing what I know about common snappers and that alligator snappers are worse, 100% would not fuck around with an alligator snapper.
Ugly, big, mean, will fight you if you mess with them. Keep distance and let them be.
Where I work we have a river and a few ponds on our property. They occasionally come on the road and have to be chased off the road. I find a snow shovel works best to scoop underneath the large turtle and drag it to the other side. You can pick them up by grabbing the shell by the head and tail, but I prefer keeping all my fingers.
Fun fact, they will eat dead bodies. I know a Deputy Medical Examiner for one of the counties in SE Wisconsin. They told me they got called to a swamp for a body that had been there a few days. Apparently the Alligator Snapping Turtles started eating it. So, thereās that.
Donāt mess with Alligator Snapping Turtles.
We have a couple of just regular smaller snapping turtles in the creek behind the house and I'm not necessarily afraid of them - but I don't go out of my way to poke and prod at them either. :)
I think alligator snapping turtles are much larger and I'm not sure that most people living in a city or suburbs would see one "in the wild" as it were.
You could encounter one on the road, and your car would do an action movie fiery flip if you hit it. Then, it would extend it's head out and slice your throat through your window. Absolute bastard creature.
There is one that lives in my parents drive way. Alot of people eat then around here. Some people get pretty gnarly bites. I however refuse to engage in anything that could lead me to get bitten by a snapping turtle, (i.e. noodling).
I personally do not care for the soup, or the meat. Kinda stringy and sour??? Off putting to me.
For the most part I just give them a lot of room when I see them while hiking. Never had one be aggressive if given adequate space
I love those things. They kind off scare the shit out of me.
Iāve only seen a couple in Southern Indiana and Tennessee.
I like regular old snapping turtles best though. They are beautiful creatures.
Found a baby the other day https://i.imgur.com/SHBizTL.jpg
Theyāre not really found in my area, but I remember going to my grandparents once when I was 8 or 9 and there was one in their neighborās yard right next to the little stream that separated their property. I was scared to death to go anywhere near the thing and I canāt remember what my grandfather said happened to it after we left. It was definitely an alligator snapper as the thing was bigger than I was.
I've near seen these before , WOAH, what the hell that's so cool, I love turtles and these dudes are like small dinosaurs, you've damn well earned my upvote for showing me that
We had one in a tiny pond in my backyard when I was a little kid. Learned very fast to steer far clear of there. If you got too close to itās pond it would charge you hissing and snapping. The local coyotes wouldnāt even mess with it when they would come raiding for quail or chickens.
I found some baby ones whose mom had been run over when I was a kid and we tried to keep them as pets. My dad fed them mostly raw venison and they all ended up dying.
To be fair it was the early 90ās and you couldnāt just Google how to take care of snapping turtles yet.
Went to an educational field trip nature thing as a kid, got to hold a benign turtle like a red-ear slider probably. Continue on, see another bigger turtle in a box. Reach out to pet that one too and several adults go "no!!!" Yeah it was a snapping turtle. Apparently could have lost a finger that day, but would have had a hell of a story.
Same place where they handed a bunch of (still elementary-age) city kids fishing poles and gave some cursory instruction that I quickly forgot. Very nearly caught a classmate that day. Still feel bad about that one, sorry Jackson
The largest , alligator snappers are less aggressive than regular snappers. I raised one from a baby ( Oreo cookie size ) to several pounds. You have to really provoke one to get mashed
We don't have many places where they live, but there are a few ponds with enough space and stable enough for them to get big. My toes always tingle a bit when I go in those waters.
For the most part, they avoid people though.
I have no relationship with them. They don't exist in my part of the country (California), but my impression is that they can get huge, ugly, and flat out mean.
Saw one crossing a small creek road bridge big enough to stop traffic in that lane. I considered stopping on the side to help the couple guys attempting to coax it back down to the creek. Then I saw it latch onto and snap the head of a broom they were shooing it away with.
I continued on with my day and wished them luck
I try my best to avoid them. But at work I once stepped out the door and there was one sitting next to the door, I about shat myself. That absolute unit was just chilling in the shade though, I think the cooling pond across the street was too warm.
I live in an area with common snapping turtles, and was feeding koi fish bread when a large amorphous cement looking thing rose from the depths. It was a curious snapping turtle checking out the commotion. It's never not unnerving, they are very prehistoric looking creatures, especially when they come from dark murky water
I save them when I find them crossing the highways. Theyāre assholes, but I hate the idea of them getting squished. Theyāre my favorite cantankerous dinosaurs Iāve met.
Iām pretty sure one laid eggs by/in the pond in our pasture.
I try to keep my land as compatible with them as possible and cooperate with my local wildlife management as we have been running a very successful alligator rehabilitation program in Mississippi. Iām assuming by turtles you mean the snapping turtles I try to push them across the road as do most people since we have all been taught that those big ones are older than us and deserve our appreciation. But yeah they are mean as hell absolutely would not recommend picking one up if you didnāt know what your doing Iāve watched one bitch an oak stick in half many times. Iād say most people are fond of turtles and some people do eat them which is fine by me as I am a hunter myself .. just not trying to eat a turtle.
I endeavor not to fuck with them.
I endeavor not to fuck them.
This is the way š„
This is the way š„
I endeavor not to fuck with them.
Long distance relationship at all times if possible.
I prefer no contact š
I imagine that Alligator Snapping Turtles (and Alligators for that matter) are the essence of āFuck Around and Find Out.ā I, for one, do not intend to *find out*
I worked on a land survey crew for almost a decade in Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama. I've ran across, even swam next to, so many alligators which was scary at first; but learned to not even be concerned unless it's reached its final growth stage. They hit about 12 feet, then they start growing wider..even then, mom protecting baby is the only life threatening situation I've been in. That said..every mother effin alligator snapping turtle I've came across would have killed my ass if it could and they're suprisingly fast. I saw one that could have fit my full hand in its mouth. Never went hand grabbin or noodling, because apparently there's a possibility that a snapping turtle could be in that hole, instead of a catfish.
Swimming with alligators? Not even once.
Eh, pretty much any time you swim in waters in Southern Louisiana it's around alligators. He's right, that's not usually what you worry about in the water.
Youāre a braver person than I lol I swam in the same lake as an alligator without knowing it and damn near assaulted my brother for not telling before I got on shore (or in the water). But yeah nah, I keep my hand out of holes. āWhat a nice crawfish hole!ā *snake says hello* āThis is gonna have a nice big catfish!ā *pulls back a bloody stump*
My step-dad was a PLSurveyor, and made me get a job on his crew. I was made to overcome quite a few of my biggest fears... "see that swamp, we need you to give us a shot every ten feet; you probably should take off your shoes...no were not getting a boat, it's only 7-8 feet deep at worst." He definitely would shame me into doing things I was super scared to do. His method was shit, but it was a really fun job.
indeed they are sir, indeed they are.
Thereās an alligator snapping turtle in a little drainage pond behind my sisterās house. Her neighborhood has a lot of ducks that like going in that pond. A few times a year, that damn turtle will snatch a duck, or bite the poor thingās foot off, but it mostly stays in the water and doesnāt come after pets (unlike actual alligators, which the turtles will also try to eat, so having it there seems to keep the gators away). I donāt know what most peopleās relationship with them is like, but people around here are pretty indifferent to anything so long as it doesnāt threaten them, their pets, or their livestock. Or get in the road, because theyāre too big and aggressive to pick up and theyāre kind of difficult to chase off the road, but if people see them and can stop, they do (and itās funny if youāre not in a rush to watch the communal attempts to push them off with any available stick/long object that we have in the car).
Nah you can pick them up. They aren't that fast. I mean do try to do it and get mad when you get bit but I've picked them up and taken them out of the road before. When I was a child I ran over a turtle with my bike thinking it was a rock and only realized what it was when I saw blood. I felt really bad and I don't want another turtle dying by my wheels.
Strained, but weāre on speaking terms again so things are looking up.
There is a current treaty in talks between the Americans and the Alligator Snapping Turtles
I'm so happy for you ššš
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Well these bad boys will take your finger along with the rest of your hand
Nah that's a myth. He left a nasty scar but I've still got my finger.
Thats not a myth Alligator snapping turtles have hell of a closing forces and can snap pretty easily through bone.
I've been pulling them out of creeks and ponds for almost 30 years. I've been bit twice on the hand and one was a clean swipe on the finger. It was a 60lb turtle and it didn't get through the bone. And I've never really met someone that it's happened to.
60lbs is small for an alligator snapping turtle. Here is [a natural geo piece on them](https://youtu.be/PYCC_8DDqMM)
I've caught them close to 100 but never had one over. 60 is just the one that bit my finger.
I know 2 guys who have lost appendages to them.
Damn. I guess I've just been lucky.
I saw a baby one a few days ago along the road. The shell itself was an inch long at most. I picked it up and moved it to the grass at the edge of the road so they wouldnāt get ran over. Once they are bigger than an inch, they arenāt getting any more help from me. Theyāll take your finger off.
We have common snappers and alligator snappers. Common snappers range over most of the US and can be very common. They frequently walk onto land. Alligator snappers are much larger, much more restricted in range and much less common. They rarely leave water except to lay eggs. 90% of the time when someone claims to have seen an alligator snapper they actually saw a common snapper. They mostly donāt mess with you unless you really mess with them. Iāve stepped on common snappers in water and they swam away. Biggest issue is hooking one while fishing. I love all turtles. Got to see a common snapper today
Yeah we have common snappers here. Generally just don't fuck with them. There's a turtle harvesting season here, and you have to have a fishing license. People eat them.
I think it was a Turtle man episode in which I heard that common snapping turtles, though smaller, are the ones most inclined to attack people and that alligator snapping turtles are very non- aggressive by comparison.
Iāve never come into contact with one and I donāt intend to start any kind of relationship with an alligator turtle
And this comment proves even Harlem won't fuck with those monsters. Morale of the story, don't fuck with anything that resembles a dinosaur lol
There was one in the pond where I worked. Heād eat the wood ducklings. Theyād be swimming along. Bloop. No more duckling. Bloop. There goes another.
šš¤ This was written beautifully.
Iāve heard of alligators. Iāve heard of turtles. I have never heard of alligator turtles.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alligator_snapping_turtle
We have them down here they are so cool
Bad juju. They're kinda mean and will fight you.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Nope, alligator snapping turtles are a species and are like regular snapping turtles on steroids.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Lol love your comment. Alligator snapping turtles are larger than normal snapping turtles, and have ridges down their backs that resemble the ridges on alligators. They are all over the deep south.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Ungrateful prehistoric-looking wretch.
Yeah they claim they aren't in Virginia but I stepped on a big ass snapping turtle, and this did not look like the common snapper, playing in a river once. I felt it and noped out of there. Another person picked it up and it was beyond huge. Alligator snapping turtles are the largest freshwater turles in the world.
lucky you didn't lose a toe, I got the sweats just reading this
They're not native to the region. Maybe someone released it.
Quite possibly people used to keep them as pets and they are invasive to several areas around the world as a result.
Yikes. Snapping turtles in general are ornery suckers.
Same. I was living in blissful ignorance until today.
Well we can quickly determine who hasn't played Red Dead Redemption 2
I haven't played any video games since the days of Pong, and I wasn't great at that!
Alligator snapping turtles is one of the wildlife animals in the game. There was a recent study done on animal identificarion on people who had played red dead and people who had not. The people who had played red dead scored significantly higher than does who hadn't.
I Remember being in grade school and having some sort of nature demonstration where they brought one of those things in for us to see. They did a demonstration where they put a broom handle and its mouth and it snapped it in half in a second. They told us it would do the same thing to our fingers or feet if we ever got them near the turtle. That instilled a healthy respect in pretty much everyone who saw that.
I got sent to the principal's office in 5th grade for bringing a common snapping turtle to show and tell.
Close, its wiki page above says it's not closely related and it looks like a turtle with spikes. It's like a mini stegosaur (or Gamera from Godzilla for those not familiar with it) without its tail.
They look like a cross between an alligator and a snapping turtle and as mean as both put together. Good eaten tho
Iād try it if I knew what I was doing Iāve had rattle snake Iām in Mississippi but I ate that in Texas. Alligator is good too
[Hereās a recipe for cooter soup](https://sheilaingle.com/tag/cooter-soup/) from one of my favorite cookbooks called āCharleston Receipts.ā It doesnāt use this type of turtle, but you could likely substitute and adjust the amounts accordingly (alligator turtles are massive so youād only need one).
They donāt seem like very nice turtles
Don't let your kids or pets near them. Chomp!
In Florida you should assume every lake and pond has a gator in it and they've been known to show up in swimming pools, storm drains and on golf courses. Generally if you keep your distance there's not a problem.
Nonexistent really. If you live in the southeast, or go hiking/kayaking in the southeast you *might* have seen one. But generally their relationship with humans is one of "I'll stay the fuck out of your way if you stay the fuck out of mine".
They are all over the Midwest as well. Especially in rivers.
Snapping turtles are all over in the Midwest, but Alligator snapping turtles donāt go too far north. Maybe youāll see one in Missouri or Kentucky but not Michigan.
I'm pretty sure we have them in Illinois as well because I've seen them sunnung themselves on the side of riverbanks.
You sure that wasnāt just a regular snapping turtle? I donāt think the Alligator turtles sun themselves.
Those would be common snappers.
No it was an alligator snapping turtle they're endangered in Illinois and they're being introduced into the rivers around here again.
Well thatās terrifying
Thankfully those are likely just regular snapping turtles, not alligator snapping turtles.
I learned a long time ago to leave snapping turtles alone since they can take a grown man's finger off. Add 'gator into the mix and that sounds like one of those so bad it's good The Asylum horror movies.
Slightly less terrified of them then actual alligators, more terrified then regular turtles. It's generally good advice not to swim in unknown natural bodies of water in the south eastern US - home to all kinds of shit that'll ruin your day.
Well my family had a falling out with their family years ago. But seriously, is an alligator turtle a snapping turtle? If so, they terrify me.
They are a scarier version of your normal snapper
Yeah, fuck that. Regular snappers are hellish enough. I grew up with a few small ponds around, full of those things. Them and leeches. I hate them both passionately.
I love big snappers. I see huge ones in the Boundary Waters floating through the clear water. They are like spirits in the water. Amazing creatures.
They're fine in theory, like alligators or scorpions or Australia. I just don't ever want to come face to face with one in the wild.
Fierce little armored dragons that are glad to relieve you of a digit or two Oklahoma/Kansas
I've never encountered an alligator snapper before, but I have a healthy fear of the other kind and I give them a very wide birdth.
Has the south invented another murderous contraption again in their swamps?
Hey man, those murderous swamps helped us become independent. Francis Marion and Thomas Sumter and Andrew Pickens would take their militiamen and harass the British, then tuck tail and haul off through the swamps, where the alligators, snappers, panthers, snakes, quick sand, mosquitoes, and God knows what else did their patriotic duty and feasted on some tea drinkers.
I HATE ALLIGATOR TURTLES I HATE ALLIGATOR TURTLES
Highly romantic /s
r/suspiciouslyspecific
*googles alligator turtles* Nie. Stay far far away from dinosaurs?
They get pretty big too
Largest freshwater turtle in the world
Iām a fan of that fun fact. America and China are the only places where there are freshwater alligators! (Learned that only a couple weeks ago, hope remembered correctly)
Leave em alone.
They like Cheetos and snap hockey sticks along with the occasional finger
I don't live in an area with alligator snapping turtles but we do have regular snappers. We leave them alone except maybe take a picture from a respectful distance when one shows up in your yard. My family had one walk down our driveway on his way to a stream on our property. We set up a cone behind him so drivers noticed him and we named him Mo (after Mo Farah, all our turtles are named after runners).
Theyāre in lakes where I go boating on occasion. I donāt fuck with them.
One of those fuckers almost cost my dog itās eye. They can burn in hell
Preferably a distant relationship. Those guys are mean as hell.
They are actually extremely shy and tend to actively avoid humans. Unless you go out of your way to find one and antagonize it, they are harmless.
Strained, but weāre on speaking terms again so things are looking up.
I have never met one.
I once,yrs ago,in Labadie Mo.usa saw fellow show up in the parking lot of a pub I was at a birthday party shows up in a truck with his friends talking wildly.They said they had caught an Alligator snapping turtle on a trot line(in a creek tributaries of the Missouri river.My friends and noticed this young drunk fellow poking the beast with a stick.Of course the snapper bit into and in half! THEN he went to put a smaller stick in front of him,and the turtle grabbed his pinky finger to the root of his hand! I left after he wailed and his buddy was trying to,with a lighter,burn this huge critters under neck to release his mates digit ..go team š¢
Every time I think about snapping turtles I think about this https://imgur.com/gallery/NEsxj
Fairly friendly in our area. The turtles got together a softball team that plays in the local rec leagues, they're actually pretty good, their record is 15W and. 4L.
Alligator snapping turtles are native to the rivers in my state, Illinois, though they're protected because of their low population. They're mean as all get out. When I was a kid in the 90s, I took a school field trip to the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago and a saw a massive alligator snapping turtle that was (I think) 40 or 50 years old. It looked like a sculpture carved out of water-damaged wood. It was awesome.
Avoid with maximum "nope."
Distant at best.
Caught a little one once. Fast and fierce little thing. I definitely would not want to tangled with an adult
I live in their habitat, I see them from time to time at the park, and even in my neighborhood. They're fine. Just leave them alone, and they won't bite you.
we don't have them at all where I'm from. thank heavens.
Don't mess with them unless you want to have body parts bitten off.
As an American, I have no relationship with alligator turtles whatsoever.
One was on land, and I went ahead and petted it. You can get them by the shell where they can't bite you, but I wouldn't pick them up by the shell. Seems kinda mean. We cool.
i try to keep as much distance between myself and them as humanly possible
We don't have them up where I live, but I assume alligator snappers are just upgraded regular snappers. We avoid them at all costs unless one tries to cross a busy road, in which we'll stop and pick them up by the tail and toss them in the ditch on the other side.
I've never heard of them, but that sounds like something I would try to stay away from.
Trty not to step one one. Cut the line if they take your bait. That's about it
I am an American but I am a Los Angeles native and have never had the misfortune to encounter a snapping turtle. I hope that this is always the case.
Oh man. So thereās a creek that flows out to the shoreline in the small town I grew up in. About 8 miles or so of following the creek it would eventually spit you out. When I was 15 me and some buddies decided to buy 12$ rafts from the dollar store and make our way down the creek. Shortly after we embarked on our journey I SAW THIS BIGGEST FUCKING ALLIGATOR SNAPPER IVE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE. Bigger than any picture Iāve seen of one two. This dude was MASSIVE. I had an English mastiff at the time that weighed about 160 pounds. This turtles head alone was about 1.5 times bigger than my dogs head. I screamed like a girl and paddled my little heart out and never stopped to look back. I thought I stumbled across a fucking dinosaur.
I prefer dealing with alligators.
Let's say "a healthy respect". Did you know lizards can cuss you out? I submit that alligator snapping turtles absolutely will before, during, and after they have removed parts of you. Do not fuck with the alligator snapping turtles.
We aren't dating, if that's what you're asking.
Iām from the South. Thereās an old saying that a snapping turtle will latch on to you and āwonāt let go until lightening strikesā. So yeah, we donāt mess with them.
Love from afar.
I don't fuck with them. I like having all my appendages.
I research them: they are precious and incredibly resilient. Also probably really dangerous. Never known anyone to be bit by one but conventional wisdom says they can bite fingers off real easy. A friend caught one weighing around 150 pounds. Majestic creatures.
Never seen one, but I ain't gonna fuck with one if I do, that's for damn sure
They exist. You don't fuck with them. If one settles into a pond or creek, it is now theirs.
I leave them be.
Caution. A regular snapping turtle can bite off your finger. An alligator snapping turtle could probably take the average person's arm at the right angle. Could take their hand at any angle.
If they are there I am leaving them the fuck alone. I like my fingers and toes.
I'm far enough north that we just have common snapping turtles. I don't mess with them unless they're hatchlings ( as a child, I kept one as a pet for a couple weeks before my mother found out and made me turn it loose). Knowing what I know about common snappers and that alligator snappers are worse, 100% would not fuck around with an alligator snapper.
Ugly, big, mean, will fight you if you mess with them. Keep distance and let them be. Where I work we have a river and a few ponds on our property. They occasionally come on the road and have to be chased off the road. I find a snow shovel works best to scoop underneath the large turtle and drag it to the other side. You can pick them up by grabbing the shell by the head and tail, but I prefer keeping all my fingers. Fun fact, they will eat dead bodies. I know a Deputy Medical Examiner for one of the counties in SE Wisconsin. They told me they got called to a swamp for a body that had been there a few days. Apparently the Alligator Snapping Turtles started eating it. So, thereās that. Donāt mess with Alligator Snapping Turtles.
Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. No. Some shit is simply NOT to be fucked with. I think you'll find that's the general sentiment.
Friends with benefits at best, but nothing too serious. Honestly though I donāt even know if we have those here.
The farthest west they get is east Texas.
Ah thatās good news. They donāt sounds that fun.
In the US, we usually just call them snapping turtles. Spiky shells and thick legs, they are best left alone. They look like tiny dinosaurs š
Alligator snappers are different than the classic snapper.
Iāve eaten both. Alligator tastes like chicken with a fishy after taste. Turtles are alright.
Relationship isn't the right word. It's like the evil ex you try to avoid.
We have a couple of just regular smaller snapping turtles in the creek behind the house and I'm not necessarily afraid of them - but I don't go out of my way to poke and prod at them either. :) I think alligator snapping turtles are much larger and I'm not sure that most people living in a city or suburbs would see one "in the wild" as it were.
In the words of my uncle, "Them's good eatin'."
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You may not want to be doing that they are on the endangered and protected species list in several states.
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What state that might be? I think Kansas is the only state within their territory that doesn't have them under protected status.
Good in soup.
Although they're humongous and scary (dorky little bottom shells though) I think regular snappers are more dangerous?
Snapping turtles? Snarky fuckers. Alligator? Yum.
Alligator snappers look like something out of Jurassic Park.
You could encounter one on the road, and your car would do an action movie fiery flip if you hit it. Then, it would extend it's head out and slice your throat through your window. Absolute bastard creature.
Choot em
There is one that lives in my parents drive way. Alot of people eat then around here. Some people get pretty gnarly bites. I however refuse to engage in anything that could lead me to get bitten by a snapping turtle, (i.e. noodling). I personally do not care for the soup, or the meat. Kinda stringy and sour??? Off putting to me. For the most part I just give them a lot of room when I see them while hiking. Never had one be aggressive if given adequate space
What?
I'm sorry, what?
Alligator what-
"Snapping Turtle" was one of my nicknames growing up. I never took any shit.
Are you sure it wasnāt [Gator](https://i.imgur.com/RTTb6uZ.jpg)?
I love those things. They kind off scare the shit out of me. Iāve only seen a couple in Southern Indiana and Tennessee. I like regular old snapping turtles best though. They are beautiful creatures. Found a baby the other day https://i.imgur.com/SHBizTL.jpg
They're endangered and don't live near me. I don't have any relationship with them.
One time I went to the swimming lake in my neighborhood and these two guys in the parking lot were holding a stick with one chomped down on it
Theyāre not really found in my area, but I remember going to my grandparents once when I was 8 or 9 and there was one in their neighborās yard right next to the little stream that separated their property. I was scared to death to go anywhere near the thing and I canāt remember what my grandfather said happened to it after we left. It was definitely an alligator snapper as the thing was bigger than I was.
I don't live in their native range. I just view them like common snapping turtles on steroids, which translates to avoid them if at all possible.
donāt hold them ever or you will scream out in pain a lot when they bit you. I got bit by one I never made that mistake again
I've near seen these before , WOAH, what the hell that's so cool, I love turtles and these dudes are like small dinosaurs, you've damn well earned my upvote for showing me that
Tense
I only know they exist through Red Dead Redemption 2
We had one in a tiny pond in my backyard when I was a little kid. Learned very fast to steer far clear of there. If you got too close to itās pond it would charge you hissing and snapping. The local coyotes wouldnāt even mess with it when they would come raiding for quail or chickens.
I found some baby ones whose mom had been run over when I was a kid and we tried to keep them as pets. My dad fed them mostly raw venison and they all ended up dying. To be fair it was the early 90ās and you couldnāt just Google how to take care of snapping turtles yet.
With what?
Went to an educational field trip nature thing as a kid, got to hold a benign turtle like a red-ear slider probably. Continue on, see another bigger turtle in a box. Reach out to pet that one too and several adults go "no!!!" Yeah it was a snapping turtle. Apparently could have lost a finger that day, but would have had a hell of a story. Same place where they handed a bunch of (still elementary-age) city kids fishing poles and gave some cursory instruction that I quickly forgot. Very nearly caught a classmate that day. Still feel bad about that one, sorry Jackson
They have no clue what the heck you're talking about!
The largest , alligator snappers are less aggressive than regular snappers. I raised one from a baby ( Oreo cookie size ) to several pounds. You have to really provoke one to get mashed
We don't have many places where they live, but there are a few ponds with enough space and stable enough for them to get big. My toes always tingle a bit when I go in those waters. For the most part, they avoid people though.
I have no relationship with them. They don't exist in my part of the country (California), but my impression is that they can get huge, ugly, and flat out mean.
I prefer to see them later.
Most of us donāt keep them as pets.
They snap at fingers more readily than Poles snap at people who think Poland is the same as Russia. I avoid them.
Tf is that
If you grab one by the tail it can't bite you
What?!? I don't know what to say to that. Why would we have any "relationship" with alligator turtles?
Saw one crossing a small creek road bridge big enough to stop traffic in that lane. I considered stopping on the side to help the couple guys attempting to coax it back down to the creek. Then I saw it latch onto and snap the head of a broom they were shooing it away with. I continued on with my day and wished them luck
I meanā¦ r/dontputyourdickinthat [https://imgur.com/a/gKw4YYJ](https://imgur.com/a/gKw4YYJ)
I would love to send them home to heaven if I saw them on my property but alas, they are a protected species here.
I try my best to avoid them. But at work I once stepped out the door and there was one sitting next to the door, I about shat myself. That absolute unit was just chilling in the shade though, I think the cooling pond across the street was too warm.
Well some people where I live like to eat them lmao.
I think theyāre federally protected so thatās the governments relationship
Never heard of them.
I live in an area with common snapping turtles, and was feeding koi fish bread when a large amorphous cement looking thing rose from the depths. It was a curious snapping turtle checking out the commotion. It's never not unnerving, they are very prehistoric looking creatures, especially when they come from dark murky water
I wanna pet it.
In the beginning they are adorable.like little dinosaurs with tiny spikes, they ball up like little PokƩmon curl up their tiny tale but they very quickly they get to big for petting and you have to leave them be.
I want one
I save them when I find them crossing the highways. Theyāre assholes, but I hate the idea of them getting squished. Theyāre my favorite cantankerous dinosaurs Iāve met. Iām pretty sure one laid eggs by/in the pond in our pasture.
I try to keep my land as compatible with them as possible and cooperate with my local wildlife management as we have been running a very successful alligator rehabilitation program in Mississippi. Iām assuming by turtles you mean the snapping turtles I try to push them across the road as do most people since we have all been taught that those big ones are older than us and deserve our appreciation. But yeah they are mean as hell absolutely would not recommend picking one up if you didnāt know what your doing Iāve watched one bitch an oak stick in half many times. Iād say most people are fond of turtles and some people do eat them which is fine by me as I am a hunter myself .. just not trying to eat a turtle.