anyone in northern Indiana or Ohio or southern MI still have living tilapia in their ponds? We had a little warm spell this weekend and I saw one lonely turtle basking on my turtle floats. I've been a bit late in bringing them in hoping that the turtles might still use them.
The other strange observation is that our peking duck pair enjoyed the whole pond this spring and early summer but then mid summer only would swim around the edges. My observant daughter insisted that this behavior change happened at the same time that we spotted a new snapper in the pond. We were not successful in spotting the snapper often and could not catch it while fishing. However once water got cold enough that we didn't see turtles anymore the ducks are back to swimming around in the middle of the pond. They also enjoy climbing up on the turtle floats sometimes too.
I wonder if they sense the snapper or get harassed by it sometime. I wish I had been able to remove the snapper now, maybe next spring.
Your daughter made good conclusions from her observations. Had a pair of Canada geese hatch a brood on my favorite pond. It contains a very large common snapping turtle. Its big. The head is more than 6" broad and its shell is at least 24" long ... maybe longer. The goslings kept dwindling in number and when they got about 1/3 grown I noticed a carcass that was floating partially eaten. Then a few days later another. Afterwards, when only 4 of the gosling remained I observed the snapping turtle trying to prey on one. The parents were aggressively trying to deter him and it was effective enough to prevent a loss while I watched. I think he took his fair share of the goslings ... perhaps all that were lost.
My son fishes a lot with cut bait. He never has hooked the snapper as far as I know. If he has, it must have broke off quickly. He is plagued by sliders however which he has grown to hate for this behavior. A snapper may be difficult to catch but the sliders are brought in regularly. Here in TX and OK the alligator snapper is protected and I don't think they can be possessed or transported.
It isn't what we don't know that gives us trouble, it's what we know that ain't so - Will Rogers
