Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Wildlife Management snapping turtle

I have a question for this fish wise group. Today we had a very large channel cat floating, about 26-28 inches long. First time I have had a big one float. Moments later my wife and I see this really big snapping turtle, this guy is a good 2 feet long from mouth to tail. Here is the question, Is he there because of the floating fish ?? OR, did he cause the floating fish? He will eat the floating fish this I know as we watched him try to eat it. Are snappers a problem for a fish pond? Or not? thanks, hope you all are having a great summer! I love reading all the great info that can be found in these pages!

Although I do not know for certain I would doubt the turtle was what killed your fish. Now will it take advantage of the free food....absolutely.

Funky thanks for bringing this topic up!! I was hoping someone would For the last 5 years we have not had a snapper but have enjoyed having several painted turtles, and I have 2 turtle 'floats' out for them to sun themselves on (one on the SE and one on the NW corner so they move from one to the other as the sun moves across the sky).

But 2 weeks ago we got our first snapper, not as big as yours, maybe 18" across, but still historic looking!

I don't see him eating fish pellets, the painted turtles seem to ignore them although i have seen them swim up and sample one or two.

I want the snapper out, it freaks my wife out and I don't see the painted turtles on the floats anymore. I wonder if they are more stressed with big snapper around?

How do I get him out? I don't want to shoot him, just trap, catch with line and hook and then relocate him/her.

My wife got up the other day and he had come out of the pond, walked up to the house, tore up the soft dirt and woodchips in several places by the house, presumably laid eggs, and went back to the pond. Must have been in the dead of night as the dog was there during the day hours and would have given him some discouragement on his way close to the house.

I have read all kinds of interesting tips online. I like one suggestion where someone set up a 55 gallon barrel with some type of hinged 2x4 or 2x6 from the water, up to the edge and then over the edge. The turtle uses the ramp to seek out a nasty smelling chicken liver or beef liver treat in the barrel and then his weight once over the edge tips the teeter totter and in he goes. That would be my kind of idea. Although I have no chicken or beef livers (where does one find these?) and I only have 55 gallon barrels cut in half around here so would have to see if we could do this in shallow water?

Trot line?

I'm also glad to see this. I have one that's been around for a few weeks. Maybe 14" or so a round, and head 2" or more wide. He is kind of cool to see, but today he got brave and came right up by me when I was feeding. At first I thought he was going to eat some pellets or maybe some FHM, but I'm pretty sure he got on of my bigger BG. I don't know how many fish he might eat, but I think he needs to go. If my pond was older I wouldn't mind so much, but I just stocked the BG about 6 weeks ago. They are very sneaky and stealth.

Snappers have an appendage on their tongue that they can use as a lure to catch fish and are very proficient at it. They'll lie in wait on the bottom, mouth open and that "little worm" just a wiggling. Fish comes in for a meal and that's all she wrote. I've never heard of them chasing fish down, but they will raid nests for eggs and I guess a brave male guarding his nest could fall victim.

I've got a 12" common snapper in my pond too. He's been around for two summers now and we've named him Whitie. He usually makes an appearance at feeding time and will take several pellets, but he's been absent the last few days, and recently I've noticed activity around the BG nests seems to be off...hmmm. Now yall have me wondering, too.

I doubt that snapping turtles would have a noticeable impact on fish populations in all but the very smallest ponds. We trap them from our pond as we like to eat them, they are easy to trap. They have been active around here the last couple weeks laying eggs. I’d be interested what the success rate is for eggs as all egg sites I see have been dug back up by coyotes, fox, coon, etc. Thanks.

Bryan

Thanks for the comments. Looks like we all have a hard shelled friend. As far as trapping, my father-in-law use to trap snappers in the northern lakes here in Michigan. He used the stinkiest stuff he could find. Example, buy whole chicken and let it sit in the hot sun for a few days and STINK! He put traps in the shallows near lily pads and set the traps with the stinky chicken parts. It worked well. Snapper turtle is suppose to have 7 different tasting meats in it, and that is why he trapped them. We often had Labor Day cook outs with snapper on the menu. I do know that when moving a snapper large or small, caution needs to be taken, I have seen people tease a snapper and break a good sized branch into two. We had a snapper a smaller one about three years ago, he came and then was gone, I hope this one does the same. While I have not seen him eat pellets our 3 or 4 mud turtles do and will visit the top of the water most feeding times.

I'd say if she was able to lay viable eggs (it takes two, boy and girl, I'm sure), mine would be very successful as the pond is fenced in and has very little predator influence. It's too big to crawl away now.

I'm no turtle expert, but I believe it is only the rare (and protected) Alligator Snapping Turtle that lures it's prey with it's worm-like tongue.

Common Snapping Turtles, at my pond, are kinda like moles and mud daubers, around my place...the sooner I make "friends" with them the sooner I can sleep at night.

At certain times of the year, I can sit for a while and see them surface. At first I would pop them, but that left them (only a few) in the pond to later float back up and create that smell that lasted for days. I no longer worry about them as it seems to be common opinion that they are not like otters, water turkeys, and the GBH's and lay waste to our fish populations. I consider them much like vultures...nature's clean-up crew. I suppose if there were alot of them congregating on the pond that I would worry about what's bringing them in (like a fish kill) or worry that my feed bill was being wasted on them, but a couple snappers here and there just add some diversity to my pond.

If figure it like this.. if the turtle wants to stay, that's fine. If he wants to eat a few plants, an occasional fish...that's fine, too. When I get in the mood for a turtle sauce picon...he'll be the guest of honor!!

I'm getting around to "one red ear turtle could be one too many." This sucker chases down my live GS and lo and behold, he can swim just as fast as I'm reeling it in.