The other day I saw a duck thrashing her wings and flailing in the shallow end of my lake. I thought she was bathing until she kept doing over and over. My son realized what was happening before I did. A snapping turtle had grabbed onto her leg and was trying to drowned her. Reacting immediately once I realized what was happening I grabbed a large stick and threw it at the turtle who was on the other side of the lake about 25 yards away. It worked, I threw the stick close enough to scare the turtle into releasing his grip on the duck who casually swam away as if nothing had even happened.

How damaging is a snapper to a lake? The lake is approximately 2-3 acres in size and I know one of my neighbors stocks it with Bass. Should I try to relocate our new neighbor to a lake a few miles away? Should I just leave him be? Would it bite children who sometimes swim in the lake and float on rafts?

They usually eat fish, frogs etc. I think a duck would be a rare meal, but they do get ducklings sometimes.

I've not heard of a snapper hurting someone unprovoked, they're pretty shy.

Rather than relocate I'd eat it. Turtle soup is delicious, and the shell makes a cool decoration.

I've lived on a 100 acre lake for about 25 years. We have all kinds of permanent and migrational wildlife ..... including snappers. Never seen one catch any waterfowl nor has anyone ever been bitten by one. They're not aggressive unless caught and usually swim away if a human approaches. I doubt if they're much of a threat to the bass population because they eat such a variety of things. I would tend to let nature run it's course unless it looks like the lake is overrun with them.

quote:

Originally posted by ubelongoutside:
They usually eat fish, frogs etc. I think a duck would be a rare meal, but they do get ducklings sometimes.

Yeah we have some in ours, sad to see the duckling population decline due to drowning, turtles, other predators. But that's nature.

Call this guy...

I don't have an answer, but your story reminded me of when we lived in Texas and visited the Brazos Bend State Park. The lake there is loaded with alligators.

We were standing on the pier and I was watching a duck casually paddling through the water. Suddenly, it disappeared under the water, bloop. It didn't dive, it just dropped as if grabbed by its legs. It was quick and quiet, no thrashing. If I hadn't been looking right at that duck, I would have never known.



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Originally posted by erj_pilot:
Call this guy...

Well done, sir.



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2-3 acres of water I bet you have more than one.
We have one in our pond about an acre not an issue at all. Plenty of foul, fish, frogs, turtles, snakes, coons, opossums, etc. hang around
They are supposed to be there.
They are also delicious but a gigantic pain to clean.

Not being overly familiar with these critters, but from second-hand experience of standing about ten feet away, I can reliably inform the readers here that most, if not all, snapping turtles are unable to survive a 158gr JHP through the noggin from a distance of two feet.

I’m in the “make soup” camp.

They will eat ducklings. On a smaller lake or pond you might lose a number of them.

On Grand Lake in Maine, in the last century, at my uncles cabin, he took a snapper that was as big as the one pictured.

I would just leave it alone, it's just doing what God created it to do and it's not as if ducks are an endangered species. Several years ago I had my boat out on the Delaware river and decided to cruise along a creek that ran parallel to the river. I witnessed something pull a full grown goose underwater. I never did see the culprit but assumed it had to be a huge snapping turtle.

We watched a snapper pull one of our resident blue herons under the water and kill it a decade or more ago. My wife thus went into full battle mode and catches every snapper she finds on land. She has a couple people who come pick them up and make soup

If the lake has any real size to it, just leave it be; it's part of the ecosystem and belongs there. Just enjoy sightings of your very own prehistoric relic.

They are very tough customers- here is one I shooed off the road a couple of years ago. It had already been evidently hit by a car and was ready for more.

actually the duck ( water birds) might be more dangerous to your
wetland area , they can introduce invasive fish species to the pond .
I say let him grow for a few years .

give him a break.

keep in mind that some parts of the country have both the slow and ! the fast ( soft shell )snapping turtles.

call the man .
https://www.ncwildlife.org/

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bendable,

I'd let him be.

Can a snapping turtle kill a Canadian Goose? A few weeks ago we had about 15 vultures sitting on my dock, dozens circling in the sky and even more perched in neighboring trees. A dead goose was floating in my lake. It looked to have been eaten in places by Mr Snapper and the vultures. The wing looked broken so maybe it got hit by a car and wandered to the lake to die?

If he'll kill Candian Geese, I'd keep him around and try to get more like him to move in. I hate those things...giant flying sacks full of crap...and they're mean. Snappers are cool and fun to watch. I'd leave him be...he belongs there.

Snapper story:
A friend of mine had a Snapper that he kept in a backyard pond. Named after his MIL. He would hand feed it but what kind of food he used, I couldn't say. He moved out of state but before he did, he took the Turtle to a large lake and let him go. The lake happened to be where I fished a lot. One trip, I looked down in the water at my feet and was surprised to see a large snapper looking at me intently. I walked away but the Turtle swam along with me. Pretty clear he was looking for a handout. The only way I got rid of him was by giving him a small panfish I caught.
No doubt it was my friends "tame" Snapper.

Try contacting your county staff with responsibility for such matters and ask for guidance?

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Originally posted by SigSAC:
Try contacting your county staff with responsibility for such matters and ask for guidance?

You serious Clark ?