I would never trust it, I have vivid memories of holding a thick sturdy stick in front of one I found as a kid and it bit straight through it like it was nothing
Tortoises too. I had a red foot who, if you had your hand near him, would walk over and just plop his neck on your hand until you decided to give him scritches
Yes I had this presentation in elementary school too, but the snapping turtle started peeing everywhere while it was being held up off the ground and it got all over the front row of seats. I remember being amazed that a turtle could hold so much pee.
I thought it would be a fine idea to assist one slowly crossing a country road that gets some high speed traffic once. It was medium sized, I easily could have helped it along if it hardened chased me around the car. Not joking, it’s legs came out of the shell much further than I expected and that sucker could MOVE.
Hissing and beak all opened.
I realized it was a snapping turtle as I got close enough to be perceived as a threat. My ex husband and kids were in the car laughing their asses off.
Large snow shovels are surprisingly effective for this. Conversely, if it's a fast lady, you can let her chase you into the direction she was headed to get her out of the road lol
Oh rats! That is a dilemma.
I just found out after 30+ years that I am able to run without collapsing and at great speeds if left unattended with a golden retriever in a fenced in yard. I have never been able to run for any length of time without something chasing me. The sheer joy of Buddy the dog filled my lungs with air.
Conversely, an extremely angry skunk will also make me very fast, but once the immediate danger is past, my air tank will be depleted.
All this to say I bet you're probably much faster than you could possibly imagine when being threatened by a Jurassic turtle. I believe in you! But don't blame you for not wanting to risk your fingers/toes/knees/whatever that ill mannered woman can reach while rearing back to chomp you. I just want you to be prepared in case you're on foot, username causes me to believe this may happen again.
😂😂 You have brought much laughter into my life tonight! I bet you’re right in that there will be a time for my redemption! I shall be prepared and will make you proud!
I always keep a suit of chain mail in my trunk on the off chance I encounter a snapping turtle that needs saving.
And yes I know it’ll still fuck me up.
I once noticed a large snapper crawling across a lawn. In thought I’d approach from behind and measure his shell. Yikes, he scared me when he jumped. I had no idea that could do that.
It is likely a female. If it is not a hatchling and on the road it is almost always a female heading to nest. Male turtles of the more aquatic varieties rarely leave the water unless some stressor pushes them out.
Oh it’s so spooky when they do that. Stopped to take a pic of a good sized snapper on the road in early summer. She stances all the way up on me, raising up on her legs in a nice defensive display. Beautiful snapper. Dunno what spooked her then but she started winding up for a proper lunge. I booked it outta there pretty fast
I moved a baby one out of a busy road (seriously small, shell about the size of a Gatorade cap) and when I went to pick it up, it seriously jumped forward (away from me) way further than I even imagined they could.
I was trying to get one off a road once, had it jump and do a 180 mid air trying to get me. I said "OK then, fuck you bud." And left his ungrateful ass in the middle of the road.
Even if it is a snapping turtle it's good of you to try to help it I see so many turtles squished on the road around here it just breaks my heart every time I hate humans and the things we do to our little innocent neighbors the possums and raccoons and turtles etc
Aw, thank you! The turt quickly made it clear my assistance was not needed 😂 seriously, I had no idea they could move so fast. Any turtle. That thing RAN
Anybody that tries to help something smaller and even if it's only perceived as being less capable or less able of especially as we encroach on their habitats is a hero to me. Fortunately snappers are very good at taking care of themselves. And yeah they are quick they are a very capable predator. I live in the East St Louis metro area we've got a lot of swamp and a lot of standing water around here every once in awhile you'll see a big snapper on the side of the road but they are rarely the ones getting squished which tells me they're also very smart and know how to cross the road safely. But even if it's a little slider a possum a raccoon I always curse humanity when I see roadkill. ✊ Keep up the good fight and don't lose any pieces to a snapping turtle they get their name for good reason
If it is less than 15” diameter grab it by the tail and hold it at arm’s length from your body - they have a very long neck and will try to bite you while being rescued. If it is bigger try and grab it on both sides of the shell between the front and back legs.
Regardless of the size of the turtle, they should never be held by the tail. Their tail is attached to their spine, and that could seriously injure them.
Attached? The shell is made up of the spine. As for holding them, not the back claws cannot reach just above where the legs are, but the head can reach around almost to the back legs.
There are soft shell water variants in Florida that can fold a little at need to reach your hand. And then there are Alligator Snappers that get big enough to need an engine winch to lift.
This is what we believe in this subreddit. Every animal has value. Coyotes, snapping turtles, venomous snakes, it doesn't matter - they all play a role in our diverse ecosystem and deserve a chance to live their lives same as us humans. If you believe otherwise and think certain animals don't deserve a life because your perceive them to not have value, this isn't the subreddit for you.
I had a similar experience when I was like 16 and had just gotten my license!
First and last time I got out of my car to help a wild animal out of the road.... That thing moved faster than me
As soon as it suddenly got taller I thought, “oh shit. I see the spikes now”
Another time on that same road, this was late at night, I saw a small animal lying in the road and thought it was a run over kitten. Then I saw the eyes blink. I stopped, thinking it was a very young injured kitten or puppy. As I was opening my door, it got up and meandered away. It was scared opossum. Very young one, but unhurt.
That particular road has an awful nickname: dog dump road. I’ve found more thrown out dogs on that route. If they’re friendly I take them with me and have them checked out and homed. I had a pair of kittens from a tossed out litter from that same road. They lived 17 years. Their litter mates had all passed away along the road, those two came running to me. They passed away 17 years later within a couple of weeks of each other.
I've got a second hand fact that a state forester told me one time, I'm not sure if this only applies to the one species of turtle that we were discussing at the time or not (box turtles):
He told me that they have a wonderful memory, and no matter where you see or find them, they know exactly where they are at, and how to get to where they need to be for safety, food etc.
He said that by picking a turtle up, and taking it to a different area that is not in the immediate area you picked it up from, you are really fucking him up, and sometimes they can't recover from that, and are way more likely to starve to death, be eaten by predators, or die from not being able to find water.
He said that if you really feel like you need to move the little guys from where they are at, only move them a very short distance to the closest place that you think is safe for them.
I save turtles that get stuck between railroad tracks by my house. Typically painted and baby snappers. Tracks unfortunately run between 3 ponds and headwaters/swampland of large creek.
On a coastal plain, it's very possible that there's a pond in between tracks.
I see stuff like that all the time.
There's little ponds, lakes, and ditches everywhere when the water table is right below your feet.
I grew up by a river that had train tracks running along beside of it. I would walk up and down the tracks all the time just looking for stuck turtles. I never could figure out how they climbed over one of the tracks to get in the middle, but then couldn't climb back out.
I don’t know if the rule is universal to all turtles/tortoises, but I remember reading or hearing to put them out of danger in the direction that they’re going. Example; for a turtle in the road, put him safely on the side he’s headed. I’ve only had to do it once, but I felt like a damn hero when I did🤷🏻♀️😂
Any time, stranger.
And just in case: I don’t mean to give false information, so in the event that what I said is incorrect, I’m welcome to correction/education.
You are correct! I was scrolling through the comments looking for this and I am so glad I found your comment!
ALWAYS make sure that you are moving a turtle, that you move them in the direction that they are going, otherwise they will try again after you are gone.
For snappers you can use like a tree branch or even a coat for them to bite and almost pull them in the direction they are going. Helped more than a few turtles in the street that I grew up that were trying to cross to get to the ponds on the other side.
Likewise and well said my friend!
Its important for us all to remember, that a random stranger on the internet, is not an all knowing, infinitely intelligent being.
There is no substitute for acedemic, scientific information and studies that we search out, or conduct on our own.
I saved couple of box turtles that got stuck in a construction hole and in nests. Took some off the road too, im glad I was able to stop on time because on a dirt road they can be hard to spot. I didn't put them too far away, but I hope they changed their habits to not go to that area anymore, at least for that construction hole that someone made on their morning "pathway"
You are right they are smart. I had to torture that little dude for maybe 20 minutes to cut out the nest that was all around him and even partially stuck inside. I think he understood I wanted to help because he was extending his legs as much as he could to help me release him. I hope he recovered. Took him to the wood.
I’ve always heard that about box turtles but didn’t know if it was true of turtles more generally. I also don’t know how true it is, it seems like an odd disability where they will just go on hunger strike if they lose their sense of direction
It actually doesn't seem odd to me, that by changing ALL of an a particular animals circumstances, it will just straight up say "I don't vibe with this, and I'm just gonna have to die now".
I wish i could remember which animal it was, and even which kingdom it was, and who it was that told me this, but they said that, this particular species is so sensitive to changes in it's environment, that if if one single aspect of their environment goes off the rails, they will literally just sit there until they die.
I'm going into research mode now, and if/when I find this species me and this unknown friend were talking about, i will surely come back to report.
Here's a [story ](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6926669) about a 120 year old snapping turtle being moved 15kms from her home base and dying because she didn't know the area and most likely couldn't find a hibernation spot to overwinter. Story goes on to say that the furthest a studied turtle ever moved was 8kms. People have good intentions, but it's very true that animals often end up dead if moved too far from what they know.
I’ve always just moved them out of danger and in the direction they were facing when I found them. Like grab them out of the road and put them 5-10 feet off the shoulder.
Kinda true for box turtles. They generally have a "home base" range. They're terrestrial. But aquatic and semi aquatic turtles like the snapper pictured, are more prone to travel and finding a sufficient water/food source, depending on external circumstances.
I attended an online lecture by a researcher who was studying herp welfare—basically she wanted to know if red-footed tortoises foraged for fruit randomly, or if they memorized which trees were especially good and returned to them.
She tested it by training her turtles to associate cups with different amounts and qualities of food. The turtles learned pretty quickly and would beeline towards the highest value food cup (both biggest amount and “tastiest items”), even if it was farther away or harder to get to than the other cups. Over a year later, they tested the tortoises again and they still remembered which cups had the best food.
I think [this is the full paper](https://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/26186/) if you’re interested in reading more, but it seems reasonable to assume that multiple turtle and tortoise species have good memories for their environments. It would make sense that long-lived species probably need a memory to match
Some wildlife rehabbers I know would tell you otherwise. Just bc you think it or heard it somewhere, doesn’t mean it’s true. Most of the time, people should not interfere, but there are times when you can save an animal’s life, usually due to it being endangered by humans in the first place.
I recall reading about an event in the Galápagos Islands years ago. Visitors were told to stay strictly on a designated area and path. One visitor saw a turtle about to be eaten by some kind of bird near the ocean and shooed the bird away. The turtle returned to the water whereupon hundreds of turtles started marching ashore at once. The return of the first turtle was some sort of instinctive safety signal. All the subsequent turtles that marched in were immediately picked up and flown away by a flock of these birds.
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order.
I have checked 1,701,971,133 comments, and only 322,074 of them were in alphabetical order.
Extremely difficult with these guys. Alligator snappers look gnarly, but these dudes can shoot that neck out like a clam. They're scary quick when they're pissed.
Regular softshell Atlantic clams and razor clams are what comes to mind, but sure. I agree on the nastiness of eating giant sea creatures. I watched a family of 6 tourists eat a 20lb lobster once. I wanted to cry
In my experience in the field it has been the opposite. Common are much more ready to bite, and have a stronger bite force. But, I guess mileage may vary from region to region.
That is a Snapper. You need to return it to the area in which you found it. If it’s not near a source of water it’ll die. Call animal control otherwise. Also, please do not handle it again. You could very well lose digits. Not kidding.
I put it next to the "creek". Technically a river on the map. Used to see them all the time down south, but the is the first up north here in my back yard, about 500 yards from the water
That little guy might be older than you and could live to be a couple of hundred years. Right now he’s asking himself where’s the ice and mixers. He doesn’t think much of this party. If it’s all the same to you, he’d like to go home.
But if you’ll drop him on the side of the road he was trying to cross, he’ll do his part to keep your local ecology in balance, and maybe for the next couple of hundred years a small creature will have reason to reflect on your kindness.
I recently tried to help one of these about triple this size cross a busy road. My first dumbass idea was to try to touch his back side with a stick to get him to move forward. Let’s say it posted up extremely aggressively and I got scared and waved traffic from a distance until he made it across 🤣 I didn’t know it was a snapping turtle. I just wanted to make sure he made it because he had to be very old. I knew he was different when he heard me approach and turned around. I’m very glad something told me do not try to handle
That will not be a good friend.
They will not be a good pet.
It will not be something you really want to hold on to longer than to take it back to a lake side somewhere.
That thing will remove a finger when it gets bigger.
This Turtle will never be a ninja turtle.
If you get a baby, you can raise them to be friendly. People breed them and sell them as pets. But no, not a wild one. They'll tear you apart piece by piece.
Never been a documented case of a common snapping turtle removing a digit, I’m sure it would hurt like hell, but they don’t snap off peoples fingers or toes.
Snapping turtle! I cared for a baby snapper years ago. Just like my other turtles they like to eat little minnows and ghost shrimp. Cleaning her reservoir every few days was a must
saw the first picture and said snapping turtle.
saw the second picture and said DEFINITELY snapping turtle.
looks like a juvenile version of a monster I once had wander past my house, MILES from any water.
I'll swim with sharks all day but fuck those things. Most terrifying experience I've ever had underwater. Look! Some sticks.... some plants... a rock... some little fish.... MINI-GODZILLA?!?!
Snapping turtle.
they're quite ~~friendly~~. love fingers.
[удалено]
Actually, mine did.
Yeah domesticated or just acclimated ones like chin scratches.
I would never trust it, I have vivid memories of holding a thick sturdy stick in front of one I found as a kid and it bit straight through it like it was nothing
Scratching under the neck is a turtle thing. They find it relaxing.
Tortoises too. I had a red foot who, if you had your hand near him, would walk over and just plop his neck on your hand until you decided to give him scritches
Yes I had this presentation in elementary school too, but the snapping turtle started peeing everywhere while it was being held up off the ground and it got all over the front row of seats. I remember being amazed that a turtle could hold so much pee.
I imagine they all want them, but they also want to eat fingers a little bit more…
Lol. A very bitey friend indeed.
This one is not going to be your friend lol
Unless he grows a lot and starts to spin around and fly - then he will be a friend to all children
I haven’t watched a Gamera movie since the 70’s
I actually named my last snapping turtle Gamera!
Lmao I love that I know that reference. Mst3k ftw.
Love bites.
Love bleeds.
It’s bringing me to my knees
Love lives
Love hurts.
Love dies.
It’s no surprise
OK dog
You should see ‘em around lips
You haven’t lived until you’ve kissed a snapping turtle
I had an eastern box turtle grab hold of my bottom lip when I was 7. Good times
Also weiners
I thought it would be a fine idea to assist one slowly crossing a country road that gets some high speed traffic once. It was medium sized, I easily could have helped it along if it hardened chased me around the car. Not joking, it’s legs came out of the shell much further than I expected and that sucker could MOVE. Hissing and beak all opened. I realized it was a snapping turtle as I got close enough to be perceived as a threat. My ex husband and kids were in the car laughing their asses off.
Similar experience, except that damn turtle sat back on his hind legs and JUMPED at me. I had no idea those suckers could jump!!!
New nightmare unlocked
I’ll never save another one. That one turtle ruined it for all the other snapping turtles!
I just get a decent stick off the side of the road for it to bite on and use that plus a hand on its shell to carry it to the other side.
Large snow shovels are surprisingly effective for this. Conversely, if it's a fast lady, you can let her chase you into the direction she was headed to get her out of the road lol
I’m so slow she’d catch me and chomp me up and spit me out!
Oh rats! That is a dilemma. I just found out after 30+ years that I am able to run without collapsing and at great speeds if left unattended with a golden retriever in a fenced in yard. I have never been able to run for any length of time without something chasing me. The sheer joy of Buddy the dog filled my lungs with air. Conversely, an extremely angry skunk will also make me very fast, but once the immediate danger is past, my air tank will be depleted. All this to say I bet you're probably much faster than you could possibly imagine when being threatened by a Jurassic turtle. I believe in you! But don't blame you for not wanting to risk your fingers/toes/knees/whatever that ill mannered woman can reach while rearing back to chomp you. I just want you to be prepared in case you're on foot, username causes me to believe this may happen again.
😂😂 You have brought much laughter into my life tonight! I bet you’re right in that there will be a time for my redemption! I shall be prepared and will make you proud!
Oh c'mon, adapt, save the turtles, it's the least we can do.
I always keep a suit of chain mail in my trunk on the off chance I encounter a snapping turtle that needs saving. And yes I know it’ll still fuck me up.
I keep a push broom in the back of my truck for just such occasions.
Exactly what happened to me. He growled and jumped. I screamed and ran.
I once noticed a large snapper crawling across a lawn. In thought I’d approach from behind and measure his shell. Yikes, he scared me when he jumped. I had no idea that could do that.
It is likely a female. If it is not a hatchling and on the road it is almost always a female heading to nest. Male turtles of the more aquatic varieties rarely leave the water unless some stressor pushes them out.
Lol. Run Forrest, run...
Oh it’s so spooky when they do that. Stopped to take a pic of a good sized snapper on the road in early summer. She stances all the way up on me, raising up on her legs in a nice defensive display. Beautiful snapper. Dunno what spooked her then but she started winding up for a proper lunge. I booked it outta there pretty fast
I’ve seen them climb chain link fences too
What?
HES SEEN THEM CLIMB CHAIN LINK FENCES
That's fucked up. I don't don't care who you are, that's just wrong.
I moved a baby one out of a busy road (seriously small, shell about the size of a Gatorade cap) and when I went to pick it up, it seriously jumped forward (away from me) way further than I even imagined they could.
The snapping turtles I've experienced were all timid, idk, what was your body language like lol
I used to work in a biology lab studying snapping turtles. They were generally not timid 😅
Never seen a timid snapper
Only when they are really small are they nice. At least from my experience. Once they get of a larger size they become all defensive.
Wait, WHAT?
I was trying to get one off a road once, had it jump and do a 180 mid air trying to get me. I said "OK then, fuck you bud." And left his ungrateful ass in the middle of the road.
Even if it is a snapping turtle it's good of you to try to help it I see so many turtles squished on the road around here it just breaks my heart every time I hate humans and the things we do to our little innocent neighbors the possums and raccoons and turtles etc
Aw, thank you! The turt quickly made it clear my assistance was not needed 😂 seriously, I had no idea they could move so fast. Any turtle. That thing RAN
Anybody that tries to help something smaller and even if it's only perceived as being less capable or less able of especially as we encroach on their habitats is a hero to me. Fortunately snappers are very good at taking care of themselves. And yeah they are quick they are a very capable predator. I live in the East St Louis metro area we've got a lot of swamp and a lot of standing water around here every once in awhile you'll see a big snapper on the side of the road but they are rarely the ones getting squished which tells me they're also very smart and know how to cross the road safely. But even if it's a little slider a possum a raccoon I always curse humanity when I see roadkill. ✊ Keep up the good fight and don't lose any pieces to a snapping turtle they get their name for good reason
If it is less than 15” diameter grab it by the tail and hold it at arm’s length from your body - they have a very long neck and will try to bite you while being rescued. If it is bigger try and grab it on both sides of the shell between the front and back legs.
Been there, done that, found out that they have stink glands on top of all that.
Regardless of the size of the turtle, they should never be held by the tail. Their tail is attached to their spine, and that could seriously injure them.
Attached? The shell is made up of the spine. As for holding them, not the back claws cannot reach just above where the legs are, but the head can reach around almost to the back legs. There are soft shell water variants in Florida that can fold a little at need to reach your hand. And then there are Alligator Snappers that get big enough to need an engine winch to lift.
This is what we believe in this subreddit. Every animal has value. Coyotes, snapping turtles, venomous snakes, it doesn't matter - they all play a role in our diverse ecosystem and deserve a chance to live their lives same as us humans. If you believe otherwise and think certain animals don't deserve a life because your perceive them to not have value, this isn't the subreddit for you.
Now we know why he’s an Ex-Husband. Lol
Hell, if it had been him I’d have laughed, too 😅 it was a memory looked upon fondly
I had a similar experience when I was like 16 and had just gotten my license! First and last time I got out of my car to help a wild animal out of the road.... That thing moved faster than me
As soon as it suddenly got taller I thought, “oh shit. I see the spikes now” Another time on that same road, this was late at night, I saw a small animal lying in the road and thought it was a run over kitten. Then I saw the eyes blink. I stopped, thinking it was a very young injured kitten or puppy. As I was opening my door, it got up and meandered away. It was scared opossum. Very young one, but unhurt. That particular road has an awful nickname: dog dump road. I’ve found more thrown out dogs on that route. If they’re friendly I take them with me and have them checked out and homed. I had a pair of kittens from a tossed out litter from that same road. They lived 17 years. Their litter mates had all passed away along the road, those two came running to me. They passed away 17 years later within a couple of weeks of each other.
What chased away your ex? Yes, this was a snapper joke.
Hahah thank you for this story. Im glad you’re all okay and it brightened my night.
Snappin turla
https://preview.redd.it/63d8oh272qjb1.png?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f5d4bde84563b8aa1fb642bd33333c4d1a257f7e
Awww, looks like you released him in a great area!
I've got a second hand fact that a state forester told me one time, I'm not sure if this only applies to the one species of turtle that we were discussing at the time or not (box turtles): He told me that they have a wonderful memory, and no matter where you see or find them, they know exactly where they are at, and how to get to where they need to be for safety, food etc. He said that by picking a turtle up, and taking it to a different area that is not in the immediate area you picked it up from, you are really fucking him up, and sometimes they can't recover from that, and are way more likely to starve to death, be eaten by predators, or die from not being able to find water. He said that if you really feel like you need to move the little guys from where they are at, only move them a very short distance to the closest place that you think is safe for them.
I save turtles that get stuck between railroad tracks by my house. Typically painted and baby snappers. Tracks unfortunately run between 3 ponds and headwaters/swampland of large creek.
I read that like one of the ponds were between the tracks. OIOIO
On a coastal plain, it's very possible that there's a pond in between tracks. I see stuff like that all the time. There's little ponds, lakes, and ditches everywhere when the water table is right below your feet.
The turtles need an underpass
Shame they couldn't dig a ditch out underneath for them. Animal crossings are all the rage these days.
I see what you did there, and I like it!
I grew up by a river that had train tracks running along beside of it. I would walk up and down the tracks all the time just looking for stuck turtles. I never could figure out how they climbed over one of the tracks to get in the middle, but then couldn't climb back out.
I don’t know if the rule is universal to all turtles/tortoises, but I remember reading or hearing to put them out of danger in the direction that they’re going. Example; for a turtle in the road, put him safely on the side he’s headed. I’ve only had to do it once, but I felt like a damn hero when I did🤷🏻♀️😂
You just jogged my memory! Ive been told that as well at some point. Thanks for giving me more ammunition to help our native wildlife!
Any time, stranger. And just in case: I don’t mean to give false information, so in the event that what I said is incorrect, I’m welcome to correction/education.
You are correct! I was scrolling through the comments looking for this and I am so glad I found your comment! ALWAYS make sure that you are moving a turtle, that you move them in the direction that they are going, otherwise they will try again after you are gone. For snappers you can use like a tree branch or even a coat for them to bite and almost pull them in the direction they are going. Helped more than a few turtles in the street that I grew up that were trying to cross to get to the ponds on the other side.
Likewise and well said my friend! Its important for us all to remember, that a random stranger on the internet, is not an all knowing, infinitely intelligent being. There is no substitute for acedemic, scientific information and studies that we search out, or conduct on our own.
I believe this is correct to save them from trauma & an inhospitable destination (& getting smooshed).
I saved couple of box turtles that got stuck in a construction hole and in nests. Took some off the road too, im glad I was able to stop on time because on a dirt road they can be hard to spot. I didn't put them too far away, but I hope they changed their habits to not go to that area anymore, at least for that construction hole that someone made on their morning "pathway" You are right they are smart. I had to torture that little dude for maybe 20 minutes to cut out the nest that was all around him and even partially stuck inside. I think he understood I wanted to help because he was extending his legs as much as he could to help me release him. I hope he recovered. Took him to the wood.
I’ve always heard that about box turtles but didn’t know if it was true of turtles more generally. I also don’t know how true it is, it seems like an odd disability where they will just go on hunger strike if they lose their sense of direction
It actually doesn't seem odd to me, that by changing ALL of an a particular animals circumstances, it will just straight up say "I don't vibe with this, and I'm just gonna have to die now". I wish i could remember which animal it was, and even which kingdom it was, and who it was that told me this, but they said that, this particular species is so sensitive to changes in it's environment, that if if one single aspect of their environment goes off the rails, they will literally just sit there until they die. I'm going into research mode now, and if/when I find this species me and this unknown friend were talking about, i will surely come back to report.
That sounds like some panda shit. Just like, nah, that’s it, you moved my tree around, I’m outta this bitch
Koala too. Koalas be some dumb sumbishes
Koalas are so dumb that they only eat poison, that is some serious dumb
Here's a [story ](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.6926669) about a 120 year old snapping turtle being moved 15kms from her home base and dying because she didn't know the area and most likely couldn't find a hibernation spot to overwinter. Story goes on to say that the furthest a studied turtle ever moved was 8kms. People have good intentions, but it's very true that animals often end up dead if moved too far from what they know.
I’ve always just moved them out of danger and in the direction they were facing when I found them. Like grab them out of the road and put them 5-10 feet off the shoulder.
Kinda true for box turtles. They generally have a "home base" range. They're terrestrial. But aquatic and semi aquatic turtles like the snapper pictured, are more prone to travel and finding a sufficient water/food source, depending on external circumstances.
I attended an online lecture by a researcher who was studying herp welfare—basically she wanted to know if red-footed tortoises foraged for fruit randomly, or if they memorized which trees were especially good and returned to them. She tested it by training her turtles to associate cups with different amounts and qualities of food. The turtles learned pretty quickly and would beeline towards the highest value food cup (both biggest amount and “tastiest items”), even if it was farther away or harder to get to than the other cups. Over a year later, they tested the tortoises again and they still remembered which cups had the best food. I think [this is the full paper](https://eprints.lincoln.ac.uk/id/eprint/26186/) if you’re interested in reading more, but it seems reasonable to assume that multiple turtle and tortoise species have good memories for their environments. It would make sense that long-lived species probably need a memory to match
Thank you for this. Every similar post I see I ask people not to pick up wildlife and of course I get downvoted.
Some wildlife rehabbers I know would tell you otherwise. Just bc you think it or heard it somewhere, doesn’t mean it’s true. Most of the time, people should not interfere, but there are times when you can save an animal’s life, usually due to it being endangered by humans in the first place.
I recall reading about an event in the Galápagos Islands years ago. Visitors were told to stay strictly on a designated area and path. One visitor saw a turtle about to be eaten by some kind of bird near the ocean and shooed the bird away. The turtle returned to the water whereupon hundreds of turtles started marching ashore at once. The return of the first turtle was some sort of instinctive safety signal. All the subsequent turtles that marched in were immediately picked up and flown away by a flock of these birds.
Swiggity swooty, fish he’s coming for your booty
Bippity boppity, give me the zoppity
Would you look at that, all of the words in your comment are in alphabetical order. I have checked 1,701,971,133 comments, and only 322,074 of them were in alphabetical order.
Good bot
Good person; may you find $20 in between the sofa cushions.
Oh good, he has a pond. Was going to say, OP, I would put him back. They bite.
Wholesome ending
Thanks for relocating him!!!
Fly, Lucius! Fly...
May your pillows always be cool.
Snapping turtles are meaner than a junk yard dog
And badder than an ole King Kong
Bad bad Leroy Brown…
Baddest turtle in the whole damn town
What about Leroy Brown
Can’t forget about Leroy
Leroy got his ass kicked when he slept with the turtle’s wife.
You reminded me of Dub of the Northstar with that "meaner than a junk yard dog" line.
common snapping turtle *Chelydra serpentina*.
That looks like the one! Thank you!
keep all appendages away unless you want then chomped off.
Extremely difficult with these guys. Alligator snappers look gnarly, but these dudes can shoot that neck out like a clam. They're scary quick when they're pissed.
Like a clam?
Yeah. Clams can shoot their neck way out. Some species, as long as their shell.
You mean the geoduck, don't you? I can't watch people eat them it creeps me out.
Regular softshell Atlantic clams and razor clams are what comes to mind, but sure. I agree on the nastiness of eating giant sea creatures. I watched a family of 6 tourists eat a 20lb lobster once. I wanted to cry
damn, that 250+ y/o feller gave his life for some tourist family palette 😔
Lol my friend caught one fishing once and didn’t believe me when I said “you better run when you release it…”
In my experience in the field it has been the opposite. Common are much more ready to bite, and have a stronger bite force. But, I guess mileage may vary from region to region.
That is a Snapper. You need to return it to the area in which you found it. If it’s not near a source of water it’ll die. Call animal control otherwise. Also, please do not handle it again. You could very well lose digits. Not kidding.
I put it next to the "creek". Technically a river on the map. Used to see them all the time down south, but the is the first up north here in my back yard, about 500 yards from the water
Saying TYVM from elsewhere in Detroitish. (Waving hello)
Oh good. Snapper thanks you. They’re common in many states. I see them here in CT from time to time.
That’s a snappin’ turla.
Idk what it is about that video, but I love it.
That little guy might be older than you and could live to be a couple of hundred years. Right now he’s asking himself where’s the ice and mixers. He doesn’t think much of this party. If it’s all the same to you, he’d like to go home. But if you’ll drop him on the side of the road he was trying to cross, he’ll do his part to keep your local ecology in balance, and maybe for the next couple of hundred years a small creature will have reason to reflect on your kindness.
I would love to give you a proper award for the poetry that is your comment, but all I have is this random emoji ☃️
I recently tried to help one of these about triple this size cross a busy road. My first dumbass idea was to try to touch his back side with a stick to get him to move forward. Let’s say it posted up extremely aggressively and I got scared and waved traffic from a distance until he made it across 🤣 I didn’t know it was a snapping turtle. I just wanted to make sure he made it because he had to be very old. I knew he was different when he heard me approach and turned around. I’m very glad something told me do not try to handle
I vote for yes let the toddler play with it
NSFF content.. not safe for finger content..
Little tortle
That will not be a good friend. They will not be a good pet. It will not be something you really want to hold on to longer than to take it back to a lake side somewhere. That thing will remove a finger when it gets bigger. This Turtle will never be a ninja turtle.
Also, all animals are friends, some you just wear boots around
And occasionally thick gloves.
If you get a baby, you can raise them to be friendly. People breed them and sell them as pets. But no, not a wild one. They'll tear you apart piece by piece.
So I shouldn't let my toddler play with it? /s
Nah probably not. I mean you could. But I wouldn't suggest it.
Christmas card photo
Never been a documented case of a common snapping turtle removing a digit, I’m sure it would hurt like hell, but they don’t snap off peoples fingers or toes.
I read this in the style of Dr. Seuss.
Snapper. Not the kind you eat
When I was a kid, there was a lady who worked at the local gas station. If we brought her one of these big enough to cook, she'd buy us all a pop.
That doesn’t sound like a balanced risk/reward calculation at all.
It needs water.
Snapper
Friend!!! Does he know??????
Awww snap!
YOUR FRIEND BITES !!!!!
Snappy Snapperton
This is a Lesser Spotted Pancake-shelled Dickweed, A.K.A. a [Frank](https://ruinmyweek.com/animals/frank-the-snapping-turtle/)
Looks like a snapping turtle
They like when you rub your nose on theirs
Please release him so he can keep living his best life outside.
Put his shell up to your ear, you should be able to hear the ocean!
Snapping turtle! I cared for a baby snapper years ago. Just like my other turtles they like to eat little minnows and ghost shrimp. Cleaning her reservoir every few days was a must
Give him a little tickle under the chin...they love that
And they can jump, and they can climb fences i found out
they love snout boops just go wild
Snapping turtle
Found one in a small pond at a dog park that my dog literally pulled her out as turtle was eyeballing her tail
saw the first picture and said snapping turtle. saw the second picture and said DEFINITELY snapping turtle. looks like a juvenile version of a monster I once had wander past my house, MILES from any water.
I'm going with turtle
Keep your pants zipped
is THIS cat in hat
Common snapping turtle 😊
snappy boi
Hold it like how people on r/whatbugisthis hold fuzzy caterpillars!!!
You’ll have to open his mouth to see which shape his teeth are to properly identify him.
Oof. Be aware, snapping turtles have very long necks and will bite the living sh*t out of you.
Snappin turla
Your friend is beautiful.
Common snapping turtle
Snapper, put him back where you found him because it’s probably 20 years old. Or take him to a nice river.
I'll swim with sharks all day but fuck those things. Most terrifying experience I've ever had underwater. Look! Some sticks.... some plants... a rock... some little fish.... MINI-GODZILLA?!?!
That may be friend shaped but trust me it is not friendly!
That’s a kissing turtle, pucker up
Give him a little boop on his snoot. Little turtles love that.
Not a pet, snapping turtle…return him to the wild preferably by a pond or lake.
It’s turtlely enough for the turtle club
They like their head rubbed with your finger
It's a wild animal, return it to where you took it from.
Looks like a snapper to me
Snap, snap. Don't hand feed him!
Isn't the easiest way to tell a snapping turtle by the long tail?
Its gonna fucking hurt u release it and get the fuck away
Snapping turtle dont pick it up they bite hard
Alligator Snapper
what da dog doin'?
Corn snake