Pond Boss Magazine
https://www.pondboss.com/images/userfiles/image/20130301193901_6_150by50orangewhyshouldsubscribejpeg.jpg
Advertisment
Newest Members
Grit160, Falcons_King, Aakash, REDRIDER07, Sparkyyc
18,441 Registered Users
Forum Statistics
Forums36
Topics40,872
Posts556,785
Members18,441
Most Online3,612
Jan 10th, 2023
Top Posters
esshup 28,365
ewest 21,463
Cecil Baird1 20,043
Bill Cody 15,097
Who's Online Now
6 members (Sunil, Blestfarmpond, Dave Davidson1, esshup, Tinylake, Falcons_King), 449 guests, and 158 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
#485078 01/09/18 02:56 PM
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 2,344
Likes: 101
OP Offline
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 2,344
Likes: 101
I went to the pond last Saturday morning for a look-see as it has been too cold to want to venture up there recently, only to find 3 snapping turtles visible through the ice. They were alive, but very sluggish. The ice was about 8 inches thick and clear. There is no way for them to get to the surface to get air and the pond has been frozen over for about 2 weeks. Man, those things are hardy.

I can only assume that they have come close to the ice so that their metabolism will slow way down compared to being on the bottom where the temps are likely around 50 degrees F with no food or oxygen. My pond has no fish in it yet, but they must be living off the fallen FHM's and tadpoles. BUT, with no air to breath...they are amazing!




Attached Images
Turtle Under the Ice 01.jpg Turtle Under the Ice.jpg
Last edited by Quarter Acre; 01/09/18 03:03 PM.

Fish on!,
Noel
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 2,885
Likes: 143
C
Online Content
C
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 2,885
Likes: 143
Beautiful ice! It would give me pause to skate on that (not that it wouldn't hold me but it would be eerie to see so far down). Kind of like walking on this new rage in China, the glass bridges!

Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 172
Offline
Joined: Oct 2017
Posts: 172
Maybe someone will correct me here, but I think they can do this because of 3 things working together...

1) they can slow their metabolism by 99+% when water temps are near freezing

2) the specific heat of water allows for relatively stable temperatures throughout this period (meaning their bodies don't have to react to change)

3) they have dense vascular areas near certain surface of parts of their body (like the rear end) that can actually leverage dissolved oxygen in the water as a source as water passes over the surface of the skin/vein walls

Since they require so very little oxygen to support their extremely depreciated metabolic state, this is enough to keep them alive until things get better... so to speak...

Am I off base here?

Pretty fascinating stuff!


96.85840735 percent clayton... the rest is just pi.

We become what we think about.
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 3,793
Likes: 71
Zep Offline
Hall of Fame 2014
Offline
Hall of Fame 2014
Joined: Jul 2010
Posts: 3,793
Likes: 71
reminds me of the story recently about the "Frozen Alligators"

Frozen Alligators in North Carolina Survival Tactic



Fishing has never been about the fish....

Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,714
Likes: 281
R
RAH Offline
Lunker
Offline
Lunker
R
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,714
Likes: 281
I saw a snapper in a stream that runs through our place during very cold weather following unusually warm weather. I am afraid the warm weather fools them and the cold weather will kill them. I have found dead snappers during such weather events.

Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 670
C
CMM Offline
Offline
C
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 670
Quarter Acre,

I was out on my ice on Saturday. We are close to each other, I think, geographically speaking. I saw 5 turtles (sliders, not snappers) under the ice moving along the bottom in what would be 3' of water. Also, no open water for them to take a breath. You are right, they are amazing creatures.
I also saw 3 small schools of 1-2" fish, a hibernating frog and 1 G$$ D%)M muskrat swimming quite happily under the ice.

It was a great day and seeing the bottom of the pond and the life that lives under it, even during the deepest of winter, was a reminder of how wonderful and variable this life we have is.


CMM

Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 2,344
Likes: 101
OP Offline
Joined: Jun 2016
Posts: 2,344
Likes: 101
If you can believe what you find on the web...I did some reading about turtles and frozen waters to discover that the painted turtles can actually freeze under the right conditions and recover. There was a statement in the article that led me to think that snapping turtles might display the same traits. The article...

https://blog.nature.org/science/2017/01/30/turtles-under-ice-winter-survival-hibernation-adaptation/


Fish on!,
Noel
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,714
Likes: 281
R
RAH Offline
Lunker
Offline
Lunker
R
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,714
Likes: 281
Looks like snappers share this ability with painted turtles:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12529844

Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 2,058
Likes: 7
D
Offline
D
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 2,058
Likes: 7
Up in Canada here we see this all the time.

Trapping when I was a kid, for muskrat, I can remember coming across a few snappers. One I thought was a rock and was in the way of my set. I laid down on the shore to get a good lift on the rock. As it pulled it up I was nose to nose with a young snapper about 12"s across. Thank the lord the water was so cold it was really slow. I dropped that rock so fast and rolled away from the bank it would make your head spin.

Cheers Don.


[Linked Image from corvettejunkie.com]
http://www.pondboss.com/subscribe.asp?c=4


7/8th of an acre, Perch only pond, Ontario, Canada.
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 491
Likes: 13
M
Offline
M
Joined: Aug 2016
Posts: 491
Likes: 13
There are some guys here in the midwest that will spear them through the ice - they claim they taste better vs catching and eating in the warmer months.

I've seen active painted turtles through the ice while fishing and they're quite fun to watch sometimes


Mat Peirce
1.25 acre southeast Iowa pond
LMB, BG, YP, WE, HSB, RES, BCP
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,381
Likes: 46
W
Offline
W
Joined: Aug 2014
Posts: 1,381
Likes: 46
Learn something new everyday! I had no idea they could survive with no air....

Last edited by wbuffetjr; 01/10/18 01:58 PM.

Keep This Forum Viable, Read Pond Boss Magazine -
America's Journal of Pond Management
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 28
Mal Offline
Offline
Joined: Sep 2017
Posts: 28
Snappers are amazingly resilient. I found a newly hatched one in the front yard. I was certain it was dead; totally dried up, stiff and about the weight of a potato chip. For no more than curiosity, i put it in a bowl of water. To my amazement, it recovered completely.


1.3 A, 80 yr old, renovation summer 2017, SW VA, 2000' elevation, Shallow, Spring Fed, Little Watershed, Stock Fall '17 with LMB, BG, RESF, FHM. Indigenous: Triploid Grass Carp, Israeli Carp, GSH
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 12
D
Offline
D
Joined: Nov 2017
Posts: 12
Painted turtles can definitely freeze, I had an experience with it happening. We live in Akron Ohio and when I was around 16 we took a 2 week family vacation. I had a painted turtle (named Petey lol) that lived on our front porch in a tilted 20 gallon long half water half dry. I believe it was around March or April and while we were gone had unseasonably cold weather. Came home and he was completely submerged and all the water was frozen solid. We all thought he was obviously dead but I carefully chiseled him out and brought him inside as a frozen block of ice. Sat with him by the register vent while he thawed out. All of a sudden his tail popped out followed by his head and he was completely fine. Unsure how long he was completely frozen but amazing none the less.

Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 6,086
Likes: 93
S
Offline
S
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 6,086
Likes: 93
Wife showed me a picture yesterday, think it was on facebook, of an alligator snapper under the ice with a guy laying on the ice above and beside it. It looked to be 2-3' long. Was laying on the bottom under the ice. In Arkansas somewhere.


John

I subscribe to Pond Boss Magazine
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,714
Likes: 281
R
RAH Offline
Lunker
Offline
Lunker
R
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,714
Likes: 281

Last edited by RAH; 01/21/18 08:03 AM.
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 6,086
Likes: 93
S
Offline
S
Joined: Oct 2013
Posts: 6,086
Likes: 93
That's the one.

That size turtle would make a guy think twice about skinny dipping in that lake!

Last edited by snrub; 01/21/18 03:53 PM.

John

I subscribe to Pond Boss Magazine
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,714
Likes: 281
R
RAH Offline
Lunker
Offline
Lunker
R
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 5,714
Likes: 281


Link Copied to Clipboard
Today's Birthdays
PasquotankPond
Recent Posts
Horizontal vs Vertical (big bass)?
by Dave Davidson1 - 03/19/24 05:26 AM
What did you do at your pond today?
by Boondoggle - 03/19/24 12:13 AM
Watershed or Groundwater Pond?
by FishinRod - 03/18/24 09:30 PM
Pond needs help!
by Falcons_King - 03/18/24 06:31 PM
A modest proposal
by anthropic - 03/18/24 06:29 PM
Hybrid Striper Stocking Frequency
by esshup - 03/18/24 05:26 PM
Rust in Small Engine Gas Tank
by esshup - 03/18/24 05:17 PM
Bladderwort problem
by ewest - 03/18/24 02:49 PM
Managing black crappie
by Sunil - 03/18/24 12:47 PM
Reducing fish biomass
by Snipe - 03/17/24 10:08 PM
Water hyacinth woes: Dredging?
by esshup - 03/17/24 05:52 PM
I'M NEW SO BEAR WITH ME
by FishinRod - 03/17/24 04:12 PM
Newly Uploaded Images
Eagles Over The Pond Yesterday
Eagles Over The Pond Yesterday
by Tbar, December 10
Deer at Theo's 2023
Deer at Theo's 2023
by Theo Gallus, November 13
Minnow identification
Minnow identification
by Mike Troyer, October 6
Sharing the Food
Sharing the Food
by FishinRod, September 9
Nice BGxRES
Nice BGxRES
by Theo Gallus, July 28
Snake Identification
Snake Identification
by Rangersedge, July 12

� 2014 POND BOSS INC. all rights reserved USA and Worldwide

Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.5