Central Virginia Organic Gardener

"And 'tis my faith that every flower enjoys the air it breathes." - William Wordsworth, 1798

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Wednesday Lagniappe: A Snapper

This is a snapping turtle. A snapping turtle can take off an adult's finger. Any questions?

My neighbor called me over in late May.  This snapping turtle was on her driveway, mind you, this is a suburban subdivision, and it was not 5 feet from the road.  Do not attempt to move a snapper, call a certified wildlife rehabilitator for assistance and advice (most animal controls will only come out for domestic or clearly rabid animals, so they would not help here).  My neighbor had the snapper moved to a wild area, as we did not want it to roam the neighborhood, where little children might try to "pet" it.  Though we were worried, it is a cool creature and we were delighted to see it: this means something is going right in our little ecosystem!  And, if it is a she, was she out laying eggs?  Might we expect baby snappers?
Happy gardening!

3 comments:

Anita said...

Take off a finger? That got my attention!

How much of a crowd came out to see this little wonder? Nice that you were able to get a picture.

Judy Thomas said...

Just 4 of us neighbors.

Merryone said...

Wow that is amazing. My kids long ago now would bring turtles in from the lake and I would ALWAYS return them loose as I thought they carried diseases, etc. I don't truly know if they were snapping variety but VERY large. Your feature brought back memories of they six little people who loved the woods and all the interesting things that nature had to share. Thank you.