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#380552 06/24/14 09:28 PM
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In the interest of not wanting too many fish lost at the hands (or jaws) of a growing snapping turtle population, I'm suddenly on the alert for turtle activity.

Last year, almost a week ago to the day we had a snapper digging in our landscape beds by the front of the house laying eggs. (babies would have about 200 feet to go to make it into the pond) The underground sprinkling went in about a month later and the digging crews found the nests and most of the eggs didn't make it. I wasn't too bummed but was worried where the snapper came from and how many of the young snappers would find their way into my pond. I understand that June is the only time you will see a snapper usually, and that the rest of the year they are usually under the mud, snapping up your fish.

This year I watched carefully and didn't see any snapper activity. Someone stopped in our drive way last week and dropped off a turtle into our pond (without asking) I found out it was a young snapper and it ended up being moved to a new home. We have a a dozen or so other types of
turtles that hang out in the pond or near the edges of the pond and seldom see them more than a foot or two away from the water (sorry don't know the names) They like to lounge on my pallet 'condos' and soak up the sun.

Last weekend I saw a large 'land' turtle, dark shell on top, streaks or geometric pattern of yellow on bottom cruising across the road and I relocated it into the woods.

Yesterday it seemed another turtle that looked similar was going back and forth behind our back door on the cement patio. I moved him to the adjacent woods in the back yard in case our puppy got to inquisitive. I found a dead turtle of similar size at the edge of the pond Sat morning last week, no idea the cause of death, seemed to be full grown, otherwise healthy appearing adult.

Then tonight I noticed the same turtle I moved last night, back on my cement patio, 2 steps from my back screen door digging in the woodchips and probably depositing eggs. I'm pretty sure it is not a snapper, no ridges on back, no curved jaws or characteristic tail, I didn't bother it to flip it or see the underside of the shell.

With a million places to lay eggs, why so close to the house? We have tons of other places where there are soft wood chips to dig in smile

I assume these are paint or box turtles and their young won't live in the pond but in the woods?

Are they good to have around the pond in general? When the baby turtles show up, should I help move them to the location of the pond to save them from predators, or will they find their way quickly into the woods?

Hope the picture is OK, it was through the screen.

I guess it works out well that my kids wanted a bed time story about Franklin the Turtle and they always like to hear about how Franklin got shorted of treats from the tooth fairy because turtles don't have teeth.. Of course then my 5 yr old who has not lost any teeth yet wanted to know what the tooth fairy looks like, how she gets in the window, how she gets the treats under the pillow, and why the tooth fairy would want everyone's old teeth...

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Not the best picture but it looks like a Eastern wood turtle. Endangered. Turtles generally do not attack healthy fish. Box turtles and wood turtles are tortoises which don't even go in the water.

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Thanks Cody.. Certainly this type is not the kind that goes in the water. The shell is not 'ornate' enough to be a Michigan wood turtle (at least based on the images I see of the wood turtles raised in the John Ball Zoo here in Grand Rapids and released into the wild) It doesn't seem to match the painted turtles. Either way I'll watch to see if/when the eggs hatch.

Google says most the wood turtles are taken out by raccoons. Maybe this batch of little turtles will make it.

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I wouldn't worry too much about the turtles. Snappers are supposed to be capable of crossing more than a mile of dry land going from pond to pond. Like Bob Lusk said a while ago, if a live fish gets eaten by a turtle, it deserved it!

They're part of natures clean up crew, and many more baby turtles are eaten than survive.


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Agree. I have never considered turtles a problem. They eat a little fish food and can be an irritant when fishing but aren't any real danger to the fish.


It's not about the fish. It's about the pond. Take care of the pond and the fish will be fine. PB subscriber since before it was in color.

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Yeah I have quite a few of them. Most of them paints, a few snappers maybe as I do see some big boys from time to time, but I have never seen them running down a healthy fish!! Here is one downfall to having so many though.

If you have a fish problem or you have a few fish that may have died you may never even know. Cause like the others said they won't last long and they will be gone. Thats not a very big negative but it still is a negative/positive. While you like the turtles cleaning up your pond it would be nice to know if your losing a fish or 2 and maybe find out why...

Me personally I would not want my pond overran with them. A few is one thing but 2 many can become a pain. The other day I had like 7 at my feeder. To me that's pushing it. If I had 10 or 15 showing up I would have to take care of a few of them. My fish food is to expensive to be feeding a bunch of turtles.

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A few years ago I had a bunch of painted turtles eating fish food. I relocated 'em and they haven't come back. I do see a snapper occasionally in the pond, but I believe it travels because I won't see it on a consistent basis.


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I have been trying to get some rooted plants started in my pond... The turtles have been making it a chore.. They will nip the tubers on the hardy lilies and also snip the iris at the waters level... It's like they are doing it just to make me mad!!!

So in my opinion until I get my vegetation established they are a FOE!!

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I have a lot of painted and every year one or two snappers. I like having them.

Speaking of snapping turtles... Last week I couldn't get to my phone fast enough to capture what I thought would have been a very cool picture. We caught a dozen or so BCP and placed them into a floating wire basket off the dock to be cleaned the next morning. Went down in the morning to pick up the basket and found a 12"-14" snapper clamped on the to wire basket with one of the crappies pinched between two layers of wire. By the time I got my phone ready, it let go and swam away.

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I've had a snapper chew right through a fish basket overnight in my pond to get at the fish. That's the only negative I've seen with them...and the paints and common turtles are welcome to stay. Diversity is cool in my book.


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I new someone that had a couple of turtles as pets, kept in a large aquarium and they REALLY foul up the water requiring frequent water changes. That alone makes me not want them, almost as bad as geese IMO, I don't need the extra nutrients.

I spent a lot of time devising a way to keep them away from my hardy lily and the turtles eventually won. They also killed a 6 yr. old indian runner duck that was a pet (poor AL). The duck had a leg injury and they pulled him under drowning him. I was horrified.


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The turtle in the picture above laid eggs on June 24th. My recall was that the eggs would hatch about right now in early, mid September. I hope our dog doesn't find them before they find their way into the woods. I'll try to get a better picture of the young, I think they are 'land turtles' and not water turtles. Hopefully our dog will chase off the coons.

I'm also trying to train him to run off the GBH, but he seems either bored, or a bit scared of the big bird. Every time I see the bird I grab the only weapon we have (a red ryder BB gun) and I tell the dog to 'go git him!' and I run pell mell at the bird aiming high with the bbs so that I might actually have the range to land one close the GBH. The dog doesn't know what is going on but likes to race full speed at the pond. I think he understands that the big winged thing is what we are after.

I did notice once that he saw the GBH and started to be alert and then started walking, half running towards it. I thought I was on to something, then the next few times the bird came in undetected and was so still that I don't think the dog even knew he was there.

We'll keep at it. I was thinking of a remote control triggered noise maker that I could trigger from a distance? Maybe even one of thos motion sensor sprinklers that are used for scaring deer away? I have power and water, down there, I should be able to rig up one of those deer sprinklers, the issue is the GBH will likely just go to the other side of the pond out of range of the sprinkler.

How about a trap? Maybe a fish cage sunk at the right depth close to shore and an electric zap waiting when he wades too close?

Unless the GHB wants the frogs (come to think of it I haven't seen very many around the pond lately), there isn't much else except minnow fry to eat and that isn't hardly worth the effort of holding still and stabbing at the water. There are lakes and rivers full of fish nearby, hopefully he/she moves away soon.


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