![\"Photo](\"http:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/SnappingTurtleFemaleComingAshoreOnNaturalCrooksDotCom.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nBe Kind to Snapping Turtles Trying to Lay Their Eggs<\/h2>\n
If you see a Snapping Turtle on land it is probably either looking for a place to lay its eggs or walking home after the job is done. If you have a dog or other animal with you, please keep it well back from the turtle. There\u2019s no need to stress the Snapper. The female I saw was driven back into the water three times by off leash dogs. The owners were far behind and had no idea what their dog was chasing.<\/p>\n If the Snapping Turtle is trying to cross the road, consider helping it, but only if it is safe for you to do so. Don\u2019t block traffic or put your own life at risk. Turtle supporters suggest always helping a turtle travel in the direction it was heading or it will just try again in a few minutes. Snappers, of course, can inflict a serious pinch on a person, so keep well clear of their head. If you lift it by the back of the shell, never by the tail, hold it well out from your body. It has a long neck and will probably try to reach your legs to bite. It can reach half way up the underside of its own shell, so don\u2019t hold it by the middle. Their claws are also very strong and fairly sharp and they will kick viciously. Some rescuers suggest tugging it quickly onto a car floor mat or large piece of cardboard and then briskly dragging it across the road.<\/p>\n For more information, you can read http:\/\/kawarthaturtle.org\/blog\/get-involved\/roads\/<\/strong><\/a>. Please remember to be careful. Having a car kill a human and a turtle is not benefiting anyone, nor is getting a serious bite or scratch from a wild animal.<\/p>\n Personally, I can\u2019t imagine wanting to eat something covered in mud and leaches that I\u2019ve seen scavenge rotten dead fish off the bottom of a lake. However, many people do like to eat turtles in soups and stews. And right now it is still legal to catch Snapping Turtles in Ontario if you have the proper fishing license.<\/p>\n If you are trying to judge the size of this turtle, that lens cap is 95mm (3.75 inches) in diameter.<\/p>\n The problem is that Snapping Turtles aren\u2019t doing terribly well. Everywhere humans live or camp, the population of raccoons and skunks increases dramatically. Raccoons, unfortunately, love to dig up and eat turtle eggs. The unnaturally high numbers of raccoons are a problem for the turtles. Add human hunting to that and Snapping Turtle populations are under stress.<\/p>\n Given the huge numbers of other foods available to the average Canadian, I\u2019d suggest skipping the turtle soup. It would be nice for your great-grand children to be able to enjoy the ugliness of a Snapper, too.<\/p>\n Related Reading<\/strong><\/p>\n Join In<\/strong> Do May flowers bring June turtles? <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[647,646,26,645,174],"class_list":["post-5648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-focus","tag-fishing","tag-hunting","tag-nests","tag-snapper","tag-snapping-turtle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5648"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5648\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5661,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5648\/revisions\/5661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturalcrooks.com\/rambles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>It may not always be obvious that you’re walking by a Snapping Turtle.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>As she retreats you can see that she is shedding layers on some of her scutes<\/strong><\/a>. I have read that it’s not a good idea to lift a snapping turtle by its long knobby tail as it can damage the turtle’s spine and bones.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/a>I think they have interesting eyes and I’m surprised at how tiny their nostrils are even on a large turtle.<\/em><\/p>\nDiscourage Hunting for Snapping Turtles<\/h2>\n
<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a>I hope she eventually got a chance to lay her eggs.<\/em><\/p>\n\n
\nDo you see Snapping Turtles in June when they emerge from their watery homes to lay their eggs? Please share your sighting with a comment (and maybe send it in to Turtle Tally too!)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"