Turtle emergency!

[topaz]

Turtle emergency!, originally uploaded by qwrrty.

Found this guy on the Minuteman in Lexington. Tried to figure out who to call for about 15 minutes without success, until he eventually started lumbering back off the path by himself. Hope he made it!

Comments

[ghislaine.livejournal.com]

I'm pretty sure that's a snapping turtle. Glad you didn't try to pick it up!

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

It didn't look to me like a snapping turtle, but I reasoned:

(a) How the hell would I know?
(b) I would rather not be wrong.

So I chose life.

[candle-light.livejournal.com]

Excellent answer. When in doubt, choose life. :-)

That's quite a decent sized turtle, who I also think is a snapping turtle. Keeping ones fingers is good plan. I have Billerica Animal Control programmed into my cell phone now, after some close encounters with critters over the years.

[inseriatim.livejournal.com]

Holy smokes! Your Minuteman turtle beats my Minuteman turtle all to pieces. I wonder if yours ate it.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/inseriatim/529927388/

[docorion.livejournal.com]

The pond at Alewife station is replete with these guys (or some type of turtle, in any event); mattlistener, mud_puppy and I were out riding a while ago and saw something like 6 of them getting their suntans on a semi-sunken log. Glad this one saw the error of its ways and got off the path :-)

[nitouche.livejournal.com]

We've rescued turtles (including snappers) off the road -- we usually find them in a particular area near a canal, so they usually just get tossed back in (it's kind of like skipping rocks!). We just figure it gives them alien abduction stories to trade with their turtle friends :)

On the downside, man, snapping turtles are really unpleasantly smelly. And you definitely need to be able to wash your hands immediately after handling them!

[isotopeblue.livejournal.com]

Wow! Just how big was he? From the shoes at the top of the picture, it looks like he might have been two feet or more long?

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

That sounds about right. This was a pretty majestic fellow. He started moving off the path after I had been standing still for a while and not making any noise, but when I approached him he stopped and hunkered down again, so I wonder if he wasn't just having a "you kids get offa my lawn!" moment.

[pulito.livejournal.com]

You can always grab a snapper by her thighs to carry him around. Not her tail!--she can reach around and snap you! Or alternatively you can grab her by the back of the shell, but she'll scratch the heck out of you with her rear claws. Better than getting your fingers bit off, though. I usually grab them by the shell, but I don't mind the scratches too much. Shell's easier to reach than the legs if she's all protectively tucked in.

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

You mean the thighs of the front legs? I'm not sure if I would want to try this without plenty of instruction, anyway.

The Lexington police officer I spoke with told me their animal control officer didn't come in until 10am and had no idea who I should call. I suspect that this morning's entertainment down at the station was on me -- the guy who called asking for assistance with a turtle.

[pulito.livejournal.com]

NONO not the front legs. The back legs.

Yikes. :)

[moontoad.livejournal.com]

Like everyone said, it's a snapping turtle. They are stinky because they spend a lot of time resting in the water and they have a nice layer of algae growing on them. Look up your forest preserve or park district, they should have the names of the local wildlife rehab place. Rehabbers are more than happy to move something like that to a more safe area. /former wildlife rehabber

[qwrrty.livejournal.com]

I'll call around in the morning and see if I can find a good general source of information for wildlife preservation like this.

Oh hell, I just realized -- urbpan is probably a good place to start. Well, maybe next time.