Turtleguy Satisfied

[barrysloate]

We see box turtles pretty often on Eastern Long Island. I am always amazed when I see them crossing a busy highway- don't they know any better? But I also feel that given the reckless way people drive out there, I could be giving up my own life to save the turtle's. So it's often a difficult decision.

[turtleguy64]

Barry,those Long Island box turtles are now endangered(I think) as are the New Jersey ones.I've risked my life a few times but I'm not obsessed with getting myself killed.That's because I think every living thing has value.
Here's a heads up:those turtles cross to lay eggs if it's late spring.They never forget where they were born and head back to that place to lay eggs.The highway you are driving on was probably once a body of water and they ,like I said,never forget their roots.
Hey,this is way better than talking about money and getting cheated out of consignment money.!

[barrysloate]

David- we don't see the turtles too often, it's kind of special when one is crossing our lawn. So I imagine they are already disappearing. I have on occasion picked one up from the middle of the road and brought it over to the side, but like you said, if he is on a mission he may take the same path back. It is marshy out there with a lot of wetlands, and a few freshwater ponds. We are overrun with deer- I wonder if that affects the turtles at all.

[turtleguy64]

They are losing their habitat daily and are getting squeezed into human areas.We have one rule:if you see one crossing the road,help it get going in that direction and let nature take it's course.Locally,I visited a local canal being dried up for roadwork,I knew a large turtle was in there and had him in my grasp but he got away.I visited morning and night for 2 weeks until only muck was left and one night he had climbed completely out of the mud ,about to cross the road and get killed.Guess he knew I was coming 'cause he came out ,up a berm and right into my hands.Got relocated to a wetlands.It was worth the effort.

[Leon]

I am risking too much OT so maybe I will consider giving myself an .....oh wait, I am exempt. Never mind. Anyway, just one more quick turtle story. About 2 months ago my daughter and I were coming back from one of her volleyball practices and we saw a car pulled to the side of the road. As any human will do I slowed way down, then stopped, to see what was going on. There were a few people out of their car looking at a very large snapping turtle. This thing had to weigh 35-45 lbs, which isn't really that huge by snapper standards. At any rate they left and here I was, pulled over to the side of a road, checking out a huge, angry snapping turtle. I put a large tree branch next to his head and he almost snapped it in half. He was probably 50 yrs old or so. He had algae growing from his back he was sold old (and probably sedintary). I called my wife at home and had her bring me an old Coleman steel ice chest and a broom. I kind of pushed him into the cooler and took him home. The next morning I brought him to a fairly large lake that is about 2 miles from my house. He lived happily ever after.....and that my friends is my last turtle tale. Everyone should save a turtle.

[turtleguy64]

Leon,you've just entered "menchdom!"

[Kawika]

Mt Vernon, New York, 1953. I was three years old and was playing with my pet turtle (the little aquarium kind) in front of our home when along came my mother, in high heels no less, and stepped on poor Mr. Tuttle, perforated the poor little guy, then scolded me for playing on the stoop. Scarred me for life. It went downhill from there. She threw away my baseball cards, too. Now I hang around internet chat rooms. A sad tale.

R.I.P. Dorothy Kaiser McDonald 1926-2002

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by Leon

... angry snapping turtle. I put a large tree branch next to his head and he almost snapped it in half. He was probably 50 yrs old or so. He had algae growing from his back he was sold old (and probably sedintary).

I think I saw this guy set up at the National.

[daviddbreadman]

It was Mr. NM-MT. He has the same algae on his cranium

[Kenny Cole]

I have saved (or at least moved them off the road) in excess of 100 turtles. I've been moving turtles off the road for 30 years. Anymore, I generally bring bos turtles home to my 8 y/o so he can keep them for a couple of days. Sliders and other water-type turtles, the same. Snappers I just try to move.

Leon, based on years of experience, here's the deal with snappers. They can't bite you when you have hold of their tail, so long as you hold them away from your body. Distract them with a stick or something, pick them up by their long tail, and move them off the road. All is then good. Obviously, the big ones are harder. They also appear to be generally crankier. Of course, where I come from some people pick them up and make soup. I personally don't subscribe to that, but I suppose that's the other option.

Kenny

[turtleguy64]

Thanks for all you do,Ken.We need more like you.There is a farm in Nebraska which raises
snappers for meat.I've seen pictures of the shells of the deceased ,stacked like cordwood ,one row on top of the other.I live in Florida where until this month,any person could apply for a permit to catch 20 turtles a day and sell them to an Asian exporter in Tampa.They were being exported for the dinner tables in the Asian peninsula.Twenty a day per man!The softshells especially adults have been fished out.Finally,the public had enough ,so did the governor,and as of Sept. 1st,you are permitted to catch one turtle a day and NOT for export to China.What took so long for this slaughter to end?

[Rich Klein]

But there was a DFW area card dealer in the early 1990's we nicknamed "Aquarium Head" as he was similar to the National dealer described earlier. Darned if I can remember his name; but his nickname lived on for years.