Jensenman wrote: You ain't from around here, are ya?Southern kids learn a healthy respect for those things at a very young age. Glad you still have all your eye pokers.
What does the south have to do with it? I grew in Midwest michigan (near the bump on the west side)... We have snappers all over. biggest one I remember filled a steel radio flyer wagon and dented our steel snowshovel.
didn't stop me from playing with them.....I just used a long thick stick.
JG Pasterjak wrote: And, when threatened, they "will pull arms, legs, head, and tail into their shell, fire flames out of the arm and leg cavities and spin around like a frisbee."
I laughed out loud when I read this part. You really date yourself when you understand this reference.......
fastbmw wrote:JG Pasterjak wrote: And, when threatened, they "will pull arms, legs, head, and tail into their shell, fire flames out of the arm and leg cavities and spin around like a frisbee."I laughed out loud when I read this part. You really date yourself when you understand this reference.......
Super Mario Bro.?
JG Pasterjak wrote:
We call those Alligator turtles around here on account of their tail. Bigger ones can bite through a booted foot. They also happen to be the fastest kind of turtles i can think of, particularly when fingers and toes are involved.
Don't see them very much, mostly see the box turtles whenever my dogs bring one into my yard.
neon4891 wrote:fastbmw wrote:Super Mario Bro.? gamoraJG Pasterjak wrote: And, when threatened, they "will pull arms, legs, head, and tail into their shell, fire flames out of the arm and leg cavities and spin around like a frisbee."I laughed out loud when I read this part. You really date yourself when you understand this reference.......
I had to dig this one back from the dead...
On our way home tonight I had to swerve to avoid a turtle attempting to cross the road. My wife begged me to go back and "rescue" it. So, despite remembering much of this thread - and my own better judgement - I did as she wished.
It wasn't that big of a turtle, maybe soup-bowl sized, and having no idea if it were the snapping type I gently nudged it in the rear with my shoe(because if I'm going to loose a digit, I'd prefer it be a toe vs. a finger). It wasn't hostile at all, and since there was a truck approaching I quickly grabbed him on the rear 1/2 and gently scooped him up off the road.
It was at that exact moment the turtle decided to let go with a full-stream of urine, pointed my direction, that probably could have filled an 8oz glass. It was seriously amazing how much fluid came out of such a tiny turtle! I managed to get my body out of the way & it only got a little on my shoe, but at this point I figured I was really tempting fate, so I beat a hasty path towards the nearest side of the road - which happened to be the side the turtle had just left - and carried it about 30' into the grass before letting it loose.
I'm sure the turtle wasn't exactly happy, but it wasn't dead either. I emerged with all my digits, and avoided what could have been a long walk home if the turtle had hit it's mark, yet I can't help wondering if I actually did a good deed or just screwed with Mother Nature when I should have left well enough alone? 
petegossett wrote: I can't help wondering if I actually did a good deed or just screwed with Mother Nature when I should have left well enough alone?
I've got to think that when a turtle pisses on you Mother Nature is not pleased.
I always was told to move the turtle to the side of the road it was headed to, or to the coals on the fire pit. Wichever is deemed best.
I always just stuck a large knife deep into the neck opening to kill the turtle then stick the whole thing shell and all into a hot bed of coals. When the shell breaks easily from a sharp blow from a rock it is ready to eat. Dont wast time boiling no damn water.
Jensenman wrote: Well, at least Celine Dion isn't a Florida resident.
unfortunately, shes at least a part time resident... has a brand new , large house on the water in northern palm beach county. about 20 million dollars worth. construction should be complete by now, but one more strange creature in florida wont make too much of a difference... She will have to turn off all her yard lights on the water side for part of the year. Sea turtle nesting grounds in the area, and lights confuse them, so theres a rather strict law and enforcement of it.
i have a eastern painted water turtle.. named mo.. i found him anout 5 years ago he has a nice tank on a shelf next to my desk.. low maintanence and fun as hell when he goes on his runs in the tub.. the puppy and the cats want to tustle with im till he hisses
Haahaaa... I kept seeing turtles on a busy country road - so rather than risk moving them to the other side and have them try to cross again once they were done with the egg-laying... I decided to take them to a more remote waterfront, further from roads. So, I had like four of them crawling around the bottom of the car, and they all decided to pee. It was sloshing all around the footwells.
Not my car either. 
Something about car rides virtually guarantee that they'll relieve themselves. Spike and Gomer get put inside large, shallow tupperware containers with some pine bedding whenever they go on car rides (which is usually only for their vet visits.)
p.s. I got to hang with Spike and Gomer for a while on a recent trip back to FL. (Stopped by GrM HQ also.)
Heh, coincidence this thread got bumped. Yesterday I was driving through a small industrial park and on the trip in I saw a small green box turtle in the middle of the road, bracketed by semitrucks. I pulled over and waited for a clear shot, then grabbed him and shuttled him the rest of the way across. Frogs, toads, and turtles usually urinate as a defense mechanism, so I kept the nether end pointed away from me.
Then, on the trip back, I saw a much larger brown snapper (probably 16-18" across the shell) a few feet into the road. I didn't swerve to hit him, but I did think to myself "you're on your own, you bastard."
Saturday morning I was outside the Garage Majal and saw something moving in the corner of my vision. It turned out to be one of those roughly silver dollar sized turtles like they used to sell in the tourist shops with stickers on their shells for Myrtle Beach, Panama City, etc. First time I have ever seen one 'in the wild'. I guess my back yard counts as 'the wild'. Cute little fella (or gal, I dunno). I showed him/her/it to the wife and kid and then turned him/her/it loose in the woods behind the house.
fun fact about tortoises, if you see one in the desert, don't touch it. they'll pee all over you but more importantly, that pee is their water storage and covering you in it can kill them by way of dehydration.
Autobahn Country club had a couple turtle crossing moments on South course this weekend. Turn 5 and Turn 7 both had a little guy decide to walk across during the Novice sessions. My student and I managed to see the first one coming and drive directly over top of it :p
had a matawasagua rattler put in my toolbox as a joke last year(poisonous), was lots of fun, my spelling might be off but it was indeed dangerous scared the crap right out of me after it was all over at the time i didnt know what it was! lol boys will be boys, i guess
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