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Yep, they pulled a 62 pounder out of Papago Park lagoon in Phoenix. I don't think that thing was happy. I wonder if they heard the music from Jaws when they caught it?
I remember the park, the zoo, and the bridge over the lagoon. It's been a long time since I've been there and I wonder just how long that 62 pounder had been in the lagoon.
Joe
***Be sneaky, get closer, bust the cap on him when you can put the ball where it counts .***
Alligator snapping turtles are native around here (NW Florida). I have seen them in all of the local rivers and creeks. My Grandpa used say that if a snapping turtle bit you, he wouldn't let go until it thundered! I make sure to give them a wide berth, especially one that big
Is life so dear or peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death! P Henry
When the Government fears the people, there is liberty. When the people fear the Government, there is tyranny.T Jefferson
My cousin was bit on the lip when he tried to kiss a snapping turtle (not the alligator variety). It would not let go. They told me his dad cut off the turtle's head and had to crush the jaws with a pair of pliers to get it to release. Some people still go thumping for turtles in the winter when they are very lethargic. COLD work. I'll deer hunt myself.
Sincerely,
Hobie
"We are all travelers in the wilderness of this world, and the best that we find in our travels is an honest friend." Robert Louis Stevenson
That sucker sure looks bigger than 62 lbs. I'm sure it would look even bigger face to face!
"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animating contest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity forget that ye were our countrymen" - Samuel Adams
I wish I could find a better picture. They've got a couple of these guys in the Oklahoma aquarium up by Tulsa. They say they're over 130 lbs. I've seen them and they're almost as big as the hood of your car. Amazing animals.
"If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men
shall possess the highest seats in Government,
our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots
to prevent its ruin." Samuel Adams
When I was a kid, maybe 9 or 10 years old, it was a favorite past time of mine to catfish with a line tied to an empty milk jug and let it drift in the pond. One hot summer day I had a jug bobbin, so I stripped down to my tighty whiteys and jumped in my "boat" which was nothing more than an old truck tire inner tube. I paddled out and grabbed the jug and proceeded back to shore. Once I got a good footing and started to pull the line in I realized this was no ordinary catfish! I had this giant prehistoric looking monster on my line and had not a clue what to do with it. I'm sure I was more frightened of it than it was of me. Well I guess Dad saw the commotion from the barn and came down with his single shot 20 ga. and ended the struggle. Dad took the snapper back to the barn and dressed it. Mom made some stew with it a couple days later, but I couldn't bring myself to eat it. Still too traumatized I guess.
The shell layed around the barn for a long time, and I remember it being as large as the silver metal saucer that we used for sledding. Have no clue what it would have weighed, but I've never seen another one like it.
The 'ol gator snappers in Florida are sure good eating.At least they were when I lived there years ago.Lots of good meat but nearly as hard to skin as a gator. The meat is best fried.
JerryB II Corinthians 3:17, Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
My Grandparents lost it all in the Depression and before they got on their feet again were starving to death. They lived on fish, frogs, and alot of snapping turtles.when I was a kid in the early sixty's it was up at 5:00 AM have a quick cup of coffee and then go out and check the turtle lines. once there were ten in the holding barrels they would butcher the bunch and can the meat for the winter. the big shells were boiled and the skin peeled off the outer shell,coated with varnish it made a very good looking trophy.the biggest one We ever got in Ohio weighd 40lbs. If it ran, jumped, flew. or swam, My Grandmother could make it fit for a King. God Bless Them.
Don't remember if this has been posted here or not, but it's worth a look. This fella seems a little "high strung", but he's probably just a good 'ol boy. He mentions that there's many different tastes of meat on a turtle. Can any of you that have eaten it verify this?
I'd definitely take a good soaking in some bleach after diving around in those cesspools....,yuk...!
"If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men
shall possess the highest seats in Government,
our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots
to prevent its ruin." Samuel Adams
One of my most vivid memories from childhood was me poking a stick int he murky water in a nearby stream one summer afternoon. We were bored stiff, and I was just sitting on the bank doing nothing in particular. All of the sudden the stick stuck, and wouldn't come up. My friend came over and we hauled out a huge snapping turtle. And boy he was not happy with my stick!
I can't recall how many times we played in that stream barefoot. We continued to do so after this event, but I always wondered if one of those monsters would take off one of my toes!
my first catch on a rod and reel as a kid, in an irrigation canal on my grandparent's farm in TN
oh, and a snipet from Wilkipedia:
There is an unverified report of a 403-pound (183 kg) Alligator Snapping Turtle found in Kansas in 1937,[3] but the largest one actually on record is debatable. One weighed at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago was a 16-year resident giant alligator snapper weighing 249 lb (113 kg). sent to the Tennessee State Aquarium as part of a breeding loan in 1999. Another was 236 lb (107 kg), and housed at the Brookfield Zoo in suburban Chicago. Both of these may still be alive. Further research is required. They generally do not grow quite that large. Average adult size is around 26 inches shell length with a weight of 175 lb (80 kg).
bulldog1935 wrote:my first catch on a rod and reel as a kid, in an irrigation canal on my grandparent's farm in TN
My oldest boy's too, about a 10 pounder on a Scooby Doo fishin' pole was quite a fight for a three year old. He dragged in across the bottom for about 5 minutes and when it's head cleared the water dropped his pole yelling "That's no fish!", I'd already given him the talk about water mocassin's, and ran for the truck. Then he got mad when I shot it thinking I'd killed one of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.
Rob
Proud to be Christian American and not ashamed of being white.
May your rifle always shoot straight, your mag never run dry, you always have one more round than you have adversaries, and your good mate always be there to watch your back.
Because I can!
Never grow a wishbone where a backbone ought to be.
My Dad and a friend of his had a couple of turtle traps when I was young. They looked like the nets that fishermen used on the river but heavier. We had turtle quite often. Mom would fry it up until almost done, then put water in the skillet and steam it until good and tender. She made gravy with the drippings, good eating stuff. Don't know about the seven different kinds of meat, but it was all good. One thing I remember about them was, even after being dressed out, the heart would still be beating, you could lay it aside and even after stopping if you touched it with the tip of your knife it would start contracting again.
We do about 30 turtles a year for our clubs annual turtle feed. The biggest I have ever caught was a 44 pounder, but my buddy got one 52 pounds. The alligator snappers go some bigger but are very rare here. Biggest alligator snapper I have ever seen went a little over 100 pounds but I have heard that twice that is not unusual.
Now I will pass on a trick that makes cleaning turtles a snap. You cut off a turtles head and he will still be thrashing a day later. But, cut off the head and the tail and put an air gun to the spinal cord and blow it out, the turtle goes dead limp and is easy to clean right away. This is a big help when you are doing 5 or 6 at a time.
We have those in our lake here ... thankfully I've not seen one quite that large. I saw one that might go 40lbs but that's about it. I have seen some soft shell turtles out by my dock that would easily go that large and heads the size of a softball.
... I love poetry, long walks on the beach, and poking dead things with a stick.
That pic not but a few miles from my house. Lock up your pets folks! Used to see them when Huck Finn'ing around in the back woods and streams in Virginia growing up. But again, not that big. Amazing how foolish and basically fearless as little kids wading around in that stuff waist deep looking for frogs and tadpoles and lesser turtles--with those things lurking in the shade! When we found one, we'd taunt it with a stick and occasionally it'd "snap" down on it pretty good and make a pretty big fuss. Gives me shudders now to think about it!
I catch some snappers during the summertime here in New England. It is rather odd for someone to delve into that around here. A couple of generations ago it wasn't but today it is. One thing to remember about turtles is that they are very tolerant of toxins and heavy metals. Most of a turtle's diet is vegetation. If that vegetation has been growing in the bottom of a polluted river the turtle will absorb the toxins. So you have to be careful where you get your turtles. I take mine from small ponds or lakes that never had any sort of industry. As an example, in southern Worcester County you have the Blackstone River. It was the first industrialized river in America. It is loaded with snapping turtles but I would never eat a single one.
I don't think that thing was happy. I wonder if they heard the music from Jaws when they caught it?
.***
