Last week Jasmine started barking like a crazy dog again. "There's an alien reptile here! Right here! Right here! Right here!"
This time I had to tie her up at a safe distance, since the turtle was jumping at her. Jumping and snapping. I've never seen a turtle move so fast.
If this is the standard for snapping turtle behavior, there really must have been something wrong with April's slow-moving visitor.
The new guy was a little smaller, decked out in about an inch of mud, and feeling very lively.
How to get a fiesty turtle out of a dog's range?
I'd heard stories of snappers grabbing a stick and holding on til sundown. He'd grab it all right, but would let go the moment I tried to lift him up. Didn't take too well to being herded with the stick either. (Got to see him jump at warp speed again though.) I eventually scooped him up with a long-handled shovel and relocated him to the other side of the fence. Heavy little sucker.
I found a site with pictures showing the difference between common snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina) and alligator snapping turtles (Macroclemys temmincki). They show our visitor to be the former.
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