I am inclined to cull the turtle for the sake of the chicks.

HK Ag

When bass nest, the snapping turtle will creep in and eradicate all fish guarding the nests. Silt then covers the eggs, suffocating them and allowing other fish to come in and devour the eggs.

I've seen this in ponds multiple times. You get a snapping turtle in there and in short order - no more bass.

Largemouth bass fishing is, for me, the pinnacle of freshwater fishing (yes, muskellunge - I know - but I've never had the luxury). Anything that impedes or mitigates largemouth fishing gets my attention in a negative way.

I'm a nature's order, live and let live kind of guy. But when it comes to snapping turtles - I go for the eradication method.

Relocation is an option. Moving one to a pond away from humans, where sport-fishing isn't desired would be a great solution.

Snapping turtles are awesome apex predators in a pond environment. An impressive design. I do admire and respect them.

As long as they are nowhere I fish.

We have a beast of a snapper and still plenty of bass.

Im not for relocation unless you know the other area wants the turtle. Why make your problem someone elses.

Or....Don't worry about it.

I have noticed far fewer ducks and geese in my lake. I don’t know for sure if Mr. snapper is the cause of this. My neighbor a few doors down takes his bass fishing VERY seriously. I don’t think I’m going to tell him about our new resident. If he keeps trying to drown ducks and giving us a front row seat then I’m going to relocate him but for now we’re going to just keep on keepin on. My son is absolutely fascinated by turtles and is VERY excited about our new neighbor.

quote:

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

You serious Clark ?

No kidding! I've got a sore neck from shaking my head at that one!

I've killed and eaten plenty of snapping turtles, but not because they're doing what they've been doing since prehistoric times. They won't kill more than they can eat. Every summer while fishing on a small lake in northern Minnesota I'll hear frantic quacking and see a duckling disappear. Could be from a turtle, a largemouth bass, or a northern pike. Yet every summer the ducks are still nesting there. Not so much in former wetlands that have been filled-in to make way for housing or shopping developments or because swamps are "icky".

About 20 years ago I noticed a traffic backup going up the road. Then no cars at all going down the road. Hmmm. So I went for a walk up the road. Maybe 3/4 of a mile up, there was a wreck. Some chick in a foreign car had crossed the center line and nailed a pickup truck. One of the attending cops was telling everyone to stay away from the truck bed. I had to walk over to look.

As I approached I heard a commotion coming from the bed. Looked in and there was the biggest snapper I'd ever seen. We're not talking big, this guy was huge. They weren't moving the truck till the guy's brother got there with another truck to haul it away. So the rescue crew arrived with a piece of 3/4 inch copper water pipe. They stirred it up a bit then it chomped down on the pipe. It took 2 guys to lift it out and move it to the other truck.

It put a pretty big dent in the pipe. Everyone was kind of amazed it could do that. They're big and strong.

Do what you want, but be humane. Snappers with any size are probably older than you grandmother. And ducks have survived snappers for as long as duck and snappers shared the same water. They are all supposed to be there. If you can catch it - and there are traps - take it to a bigger lake and let it go.

BTW, here is one that I saw trying to cross a busy highway. I stopped, put it in the back of my truck, moved it to a safer spot, took a pic, and let it go. Nesting season is coming up and we'll start seeing more and more on the roads.

Micropterus, No worries. I would never harm a snapper. I would actually go out of my way to help one if I saw it crossing a road. There is one at our local zoo that is estimated to be over 100 years old. I appreciate an animal able to live that long and would only help to preserve them.

We used to have a big one that liked to hang out under my grandparents dock. We managed to catch him a few times while fishing. I’ll have to see if my aunt still has any pics. It was pretty big.

That a great pic!

BTDT, had a snapper in my spring-fed pond eating my ducks. The worst part was he only took the heads! He'd grab their foot and when they went to peck he'd take the head off in one bite. What worked was a horseshoe spike in the shore. Tied heavy-duty fishing line to a steel leader shark hook (very important) with a chicken wing or leg as bait. I caught it in two days after baiting my trap. Good Luck

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Originally posted by Black92LX:
We have a beast of a snapper and still plenty of bass.

Wait until you get a few more.

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Originally posted by Jager:

quote:

Originally posted by Black92LX:
We have a beast of a snapper and still plenty of bass.

Wait until you get a few more.

Funny this thread got bumped up tonight.
Boys and I took a walk around the pond tonight after dinner and found old boy was stuck in the mud. He was stuck pretty good. Had to take the boat ore and dig around him then pry up under him to get him out.
He was a good 16” at the widest part of his shell and his feet just a bit smaller than my fist. His claws were pretty long maybe 2.5” which is why I am calling him a he. Always heard males have much longer claws.

This was the closest I have been but to him. Seen him out floating in the middle on occasion but had not seen him up close on land.

He was substantially bigger than the one Micro posted a picture of above.
Also would guess that is a female as it has stubby claws.

You might check with your state Fish and Game department because they are a protected species in some states.

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
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?

Generally only the Alligator snappers are the protected ones.
The Common Snapper usually is not. Very easy to tell the difference as the common shells is fairly smooth. The alligator has three distinct rows or raised segments.

I live on a large TVA lake in E TN. I've seen snapper with a head large as a softball, but in the 20+ years we've lived here I've never heard of them biting a person. I'm sure they are just as scared of me as I am of them. Mutually assured destruction.

I think you could catch or kill one and there'd be two more you never see still living there...

Years ago I worked at a local golf course. We had a couple players from the local university football team come out to play. I was just heading out myself so we joined up. We came upon a very large snapping turtle, probably 24” across, on the cart path. The California kid was really out there and jumps out of the cart to see the turtle. Somehow he gets the bright idea to piss on the turtle. I was still back in my cart and didn’t realize exactly what was going on until I hear him yelp and jump back with a stream of urine coming on his shoulder. Apparently the turtle didn’t appreciate the golden shower and snapped at Cali which caused him to jump back and piss on himself. His teammate and I were rolling laughing at him as the turtle wandered back into his pond. We finished the round without handshakes and Cali got a valuable life lesson from a WV snapping turtle. Justice was served!

We had a pond on our property in Horseheads NY years ago. One day I noticed a snapping turtle in there and relocated him to a pond down the hill because we had just stocked the pond.
What turned out to be the biggest pest was a Great Blue Heron. One began showing up and a neighbor said the bird cleaned out his koi pond in less than two weeks.
We put out some wind-reactive chimes/pinwheels/spinners and finally passively persuaded him to find a home elsewhere.

This is Bone Crusher. He is an alligator snapping turtle that lives at the Greensboro Science Center and is estimated to have been born around 1918. This guy was born in the wild but has spent most of its life in captivity. Bone Crusher even did a stint in an exhibit with alligators and still has the holes in his shell to prove it. The Science Center hopes to have Bone Crusher for a few more decades. He is one of my sons favorite creatures at that zoo.

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Originally posted by wrightd:

quote:

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

You serious Clark ?

LOLOL