[Bob Dillon]

A fine specimen of macrochelys temminicki.

Men rescue huge alligator snapping turtle that was stuck in drainage culvert



BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) -
A wrestling match pitting a courageous man against one monster of a turtle unfolded in a drainage canal, but it was for the animal's well-being.

It happened off Hoo Shoo Too Road in Baton Rouge and the massive alligator snapping turtle still looked a bit troubling even after it was tucked inside a kiddie pool. Its head is as big as a football.

"You're looking at about a four foot long turtle," said Martin LeBlanc.

Travis Lewis first spotted the creature when peeking into a canal near his driveway.

"It looked like a log," Lewis said. "So, I took a closer look and it was a big ole turtle, so I jumped up screaming and hollering for Martin to come help me."

"I thought something had him," LeBlanc explained.

"I'm like, ‘Martin, come help me! Come help me,'" Lewis added.

"I didn't know what was going on," LeBlanc said.

"I'm sorry, man (laughs)," he added.

What looked like a log to Lewis looked like something much different to his buddy.

"I'm from Pierre Part. I was thinking dinner!" LeBlanc explained.

However, they soon figured out the huge turtle in trouble.

"He was wedged in a culvert and one of our friends actually climbed in the culvert and pulled the turtle out. He was wedged in real tight," LeBlanc said.

After a 45-minute struggle, they had it free. They quickly spread a word of warning to stay clear of its head.

"Because once it latches on to you, it's not going to let go. It's almost like an alligator. Once it latches on to you, it's going to take whatever it bites with it," Lewis added.

The men have decided a big turtle soup is not on the menu. They're going to set it free once they find a spot that's big enough.

video:

http://khon2.com/2014/04/09/giant-tu...siana-culvert/

[sdbob]

GULP!

[69goatboy]

[Greg Reid]

Fingers and toes? How about your hand and foot...Seriously, that thing could easily bite through your wrist or ankle.
I pulled one about three quarters that size up from the bottom of a pond in the woods once. I was fishing and thought I had a monster catfish or something. He held on until I got him up near enough to the surface to see what it was...I guess he saw what 'he had' at the same time I saw what I had, because it was then that he let go and sank back to the bottom. His big ol' back was covered in moss.

[2002Z4CSS]

That's one big turtle.

[Half-Inch Stud]

That looks of of GARBAGE pail size we had in a local pond.

[F ROCK]

I think I've read that is one of the most, if not THE most powerful bite in the animal kingdom, per square inch.

nice that they are freeing it...it's probably 50 years old or more.

I always think, when someone mounts a monster bass, " man, that thing must be really old to have grown so large, and now you've killed it."

[GT182]

That's just a small one Bob. When you see one that's 4' across then you worry about everything. We came across one that size up in the Adirondacks of NY outside of Paul Smiths, NY back in 1981. The blade of one of oars from the rowboat we were in fit INside it's mouth. Game Warden told us it was at least 170 to 200 years old. And he also told us it could have easily flipped the boat if we had really pizzed it off. I've often wondered if it's still alive today.

[Greg Reid]

Found this little fella in my driveway the other day...not much bigger than a quarter... He's got a long way to go.... He was a good 500 yards of rough terrain from a good environment for a snapping turtle. I gave him a hand and took him to a little pond I knew of.

[Bob Dillon]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Found this little fella in my driveway the other day...not much bigger than a quarter... He's got a long way to go.... He was a good 500 yards of rough terrain from a good environment for a snapping turtle. I gave him a hand and took him to a little pond I knew of.

I had one about that size when I collected turtles. It grew (on minnows) to about the size of my hand in 3-4 years and I finally was able to trade him for a Mata Mata turtle, which I'd always wanted.

[njsteve]

Amazing. It must be a Pontiac guy thing! I had a Mata Mata when I was a teenager when I was collecting all sorts of reptiles. They are amazing creatures - they swallow their prey whole, by opening their jaws so quickly that the fish gets vacuumed up. Then they close the jaws like a trap. Cool!

[The Boss]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Found this little fella in my driveway the other day...not much bigger than a quarter... He's got a long way to go.... He was a good 500 yards of rough terrain from a good environment for a snapping turtle. I gave him a hand and took him to a little pond I knew of.

Found one of those dead in the road the other day when we were walking the dogs - where there is one there are some!

Here's some shots of one of the bigger ones in the same area - kind of a surprise when you come around the corner & there they are!

[Bob Dillon]

Originally Posted by njsteve

Amazing. It must be a Pontiac guy thing! I had a Mata Mata when I was a teenager when I was collecting all sorts of reptiles. They are amazing creatures - they swallow their prey whole, by opening their jaws so quickly that the fish gets vacuumed up. Then they close the jaws like a trap. Cool!

One of my accounts at the time was the Cincinnati Zoo. The species I really wanted was a leatherback sea turtle. They had about 20 hatchlings but the keeper of the reptile house said they were federally protected, and individuals were not allowed ownership.

[Greg Reid]

They certainly are interesting creatures...especially, as Boss says, when you just happen up on a huge one.
I just wonder how that tiny one got on my driveway in the middle of the high ground that is surrounded by hundreds of acres of heavily wooded, dry terrain. Hatched up there maybe?
Just imagine the odds against him surviving the first couple of years from where I found him! Life is truly amazing...

[zeebo]

im glad he is letting it go, and thanks to all of you for helping the turtles out too---they need our help on the roads to make it! that and their numbers are dwindling as well.

[njsteve]

The are just like living dinosaurs. I remember as a kid swimming in a local pond. I was wearing a face mask and using a snorkel. I was leisurely floating around and parting the plants and reeds by the shoreline when I open up into a clearing and come face to face with a giant snapping turtle. I was about a foot under water and completely in his element. He looked at me and slowly extended his neck in my direction. He was so close I could see the unique sparkle/sunburst pattern in his eyes. He was around the size of the one in the photo at the beginning of this thread.

My parents head me scream S%&T!!!!!!!! through the snorkel and I must have looked like a cartoon character as I propelled myself out of the pond at about 30 mph, looking like I had an outboard motor strapped to my butt.

I still like them - they are amazing creatures.

[Bob Dillon]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

I just wonder how that tiny one got on my driveway in the middle of the high ground that is surrounded by hundreds of acres of heavily wooded, dry terrain. Hatched up there maybe?

Probably because rotting vegetation on the forest floor generates the heat needed to incubate the eggs.

[GT182]

Greg, I found one last Wednesday where I do gardening, like the one you posted, in the fern garden under the deck. About the size of a 50 cent piece, or just a tad smaller. We put it under half of a broken flower pot with a dish of water it could climb into and out of. Went back the next day to check on it but it was gone.

[Greg Reid]

Had to be the case Bob. Hatched up here and was on his own to make it the quarter mile or so to the nearest pond.
Gary, when I picked that one up, I decided I'd set him down on the concrete to take a photo. He's slow, right?..and he was inside his shell in protective mode.... He's not going anywhere fast.
I stepped in the house, got my I-pad, stepped back out and he was gone. He recognized that the 'threat' had left the area and he found cover 2 feet away in the grass next to the sidewalk in less than 30 seconds. Took me a couple of minutes to find him.
Remarkable creatures.

[Bob Dillon]

Originally Posted by njsteve

The are just like living dinosaurs.

They're actually much older than the dinosaurs. Haven't changed much in over 300 million years.