Okay, I know that the folks down south will think I am a drama queen with your gators and all, but we just pulled a 12 inch dia. snapping turtle out of our "wetland" today.
Alot of our land has a ton of sand on it and I have seen smaller ones often, laying their eggs in the sand banks. Two days ago on our walk, my dogs found a nest that another critter had opened and ate the turtle eggs (yeah!) of course they all had to try and eat the shells that were left behind. (yuck)
Anyway, I always worry about the dogs coming nose to nose with them, has anyone ever had an issue? We never have but ya never know!
We have them, along with the snakes and gators. I never gave them a thought. I have never heard of anyone having a problem with them though.
In addition to the good old Florida Snapping turtle, we also are lucky enough to have the Alligator Snapping Turtle. Adult male weight....250 lbs!
I trapped turtles with my grandfather when I was younger and still clean an occasional one now and then. I have swam in waters with them and had my dogs in hundreds of times in waters filled with them. Never have I had a problem.
In the water, a turtle will swim off as soon as possible. On land, most of the time , they will go into their shell. A dog would have to attack its head to get bitten.
I have a dumbazz CBR that decided to take a big snapper on when she was about 4 mos. This one was just moseying across the driveway on his way to one of the ponds when she found it. Its shell was about 18 in. but with a head as big as a man's fist. It bit her in the eye which we didn't think was too bad initially but she got uveitis and internal bleeding from the blow. And yes she was going for its head when it bit her.
She had a breeder option of punctate cataract in that eye on her first CERF (same vet that treated the initial injury) but has gotten a subsequent clear. So, yes the big ones can do some damage!
I posted this last week on a local duck hunters site about why its a good idea to check out your traning area before you start. And no, we did not make soup. We just moved this guy about 50 yards away to avoid any problems.
I've seen way bigger than 12" diameter snappers - and then can move pretty fast when they wanna. I wouldn't get close to one. One summer, I saw a car stopped on the side of the road and this mom was showing her 3 year old this big snapping turtle. What was crazy is that they were only a foot from it and they were poking at it. Crazy, huh?
I told her that that really wasn't the greatest idea.
Was running a master test a North Dakota grounds and they had a kid on an island throwing the middle bird of the last series water triple.
Kid says a turtle it trying to eat the duck after it splashes on the beach.
he whacks at it with a boat oar.....it goes away, but not to far, just a little irritated.
By the time my 50 lb. 2 year old goes for the her island bird the race is on !!!!! Who is gonna get the duck 1st the turtle or my muskrat sized dog !!!!! The dog won...barely...she was pretty spooked :shock:
Judges decide, the turtle's gotta go. They they get a net, plastic trash can, etc. When all was said and done they had a turtle in a boat that was as big as a trash can, thinking it weighed more than my dog.
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I posted this last week on a local duck hunters site about why its a good idea to check out your traning area before you start. And no, we did not make soup. We just moved this guy about 50 yards away to avoid any problems.
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