Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Turtle tales.

In light of the recent threads concerning turtles, I thought It might be entertaining to share a few tidbits of turtle lore from my childhood days. My family has hunted, caught, cleaned and eaten snapping turtles for many years, and as a kid in a large, backwoods family I got to hear some pretty curious ideas covering different aspects of their capture and handling.
Bear in mind that some of what you read in this post may be mildly dangerous, fly directly in the face of accepted scientific principles, cause extreme concern among members of certain animal rights groups, and turn out to be nothing more than an outright fabrication. I am not the author of any such fabrications, aside from those involving Yeti coolers and hydraulic grapples, but am merely passing along what was presented to me as fact, back in the day.

A Snapper that has had its head removed as a precursor to butchering, will continue to move until the next thunderstorm passes through. Totally not making this up....widespread belief at the time. Wow.

When hunting turtles with a firearm, you obviously need to see the animal in order to get off a shot. But since turtles can hold their breath for a long time, and the patience of the pre-teen shooter often grows short, you need a way to bring the animal up. Slapping the surface of the water with an asphalt roofing shingle will cause the turtle to rise to the surface out of curiosity. I don't know if this works, but missing shingles over the front porch will most certainly lead to unpleasant circumstances for the aspiring young turtle hunter. Fact.

Nothing will bother the remains of a snapping turtle. Not possums, coons, coyotes, buzzards.....nothing. I have a very hard time believing this, but now that I think about it, I don't ever recall being curious enough to tramp a quarter mile through tick infested woods to check out what, if anything, remains of the gut-pile left behind from butchering a turtle. Especially not after an extended interval of 90 degree days in August. This sounds like it would be right up Yolk Sac's alley however. Perhaps he will weigh in with his findings.

If you are unfortunate enough to be the recepient of a snapping turtle's bite, AND the animal refuses to let go, Sticking a broomstraw up one of its nostrils will cause it to open its mouth. Here again, I am without any hard evidence that this technique will provide results. But I surmise that the introduction of synthetic materials in broomheads has probably rendered the procedure obsolete. That's progress for you.

Flipping a snapper over on its back will render it immobile, allowing you to approach it more easily. Yeah right. That might work with some namby-pamby box turtle, but a snapper will use it's head and neck to roll itself right back square, with the only effect being a ratcheting -up of intensity/anger on the turtles part. Fact.

A live snapper can extricate itself from the bed of a pickup truck, easily endure the fall to ground, and escape unharmed. Absolutely true. Metal trash cans with lids AND weighted down make great escape-proof enclosures, but trying to sleep with such an arrangement right outside an open bedroom window is futile.

An aluminum jonboat that always had plenty of room for two anglers and their gear, will become unbearably cramped once a large, ticked off snapper is taken on as a passenger. VERY true. As an interesting sidenote however, wildly flailing oars will do an admirable job of aeration, provided any water is left in the pond. And jonboats can achieve planing speed under human power, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

Having grown up in Arizona, I'm afraid I have little to contribute to this very educational thread, other than the observation that I don't think I'd be very anxious to eat anything a possum or buzzard would pass up.

I'd have given anything to see that jonboat up on plane, however.

Those are awesome tidbits, Spark!

None of which I would argue with or dispute, some of which I hope to never encounter e.g., the jon boat and/or needing to locate a whisk broom!

An approximate 20# snapping turtle, placed in a plastic trash can without the lid, and then placing the trash can in a speed boat for a 1.5 hr drive to the lake will NOT ensure that the turtle is still in the trashcan OR the boat upon arrival. (It was fun crawling up in the bow of the boat looking for the turtle, and in the side ski pockets....) I hope it survived the 60+ mph slide down the highway. fact

2 people can in fact share a small jon boat with up to 4 large turtles without problems providing that all the turtles stay on their backs and under the boat occupants shoes. If one turtle gets right side up, then the boat shrinks in size by approximately 90% in a heartbeat. fact

Cutting the head off of a turtle, then hanging it head down to bleed out for a few hours will NOT ensure that the feet don't move around and claw at you when it's being skinned. fact

Opossums and buzzards are too finicky. After ANYthing bloats, it's ready for the pot. FACT!!

Word.

I don't doubt this at all. I do know that snappers can induce super human feats.
I was fishing a small stream once. Had to cross through a patch of canary grass to get to the stream. As I walked thru I noticed a rock that I could use for my next step. When I stepped on it it seemed odd, kind soft and not very firm on the ground. As I looked down I noticed the snappers head swing up and back towards my foot. I doubt it could reach me but the sudden realization the the rock was a big snapper caused me to do what my fishing partner described as the "Worlds oddest looking standing long jump".

Another time I was wading a river fishing a slow deep corner. Felt a bump on the back off my leg. Looked down to see a snapper swimming away. No need to do anything as he was swimming away, but still, it gave me the shivers.

I have left a few headless bodies, bankside. I have come upon many headless snappers, that were very odoriferous, and untouched by scavengers...

My one time having turtle stew, courtesy of a BIL that had bagged a biggun, it was really good! Tasted like chuck roast of beef.

I hear a big snapper in Port-a-jon's is quite effective at causing the sphincter to pinch off a strong belly boil, and evokes some epileptic form of dance in at least one of our PA pondmeisters....Urban legend????

Watch out for Turtle Creek....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NiAD17wpEY

The power of plastic! This turtle likely crawled through a discarded plastic ring of a 6-pack of beer or soda when it was a baby, and now is being strangled in a plastic hangman's noose.


The plastic was removed by veterinarians after the picture was taken.