Snap
Submitted by Sheila Miller on Fri, 06/06/2008 - 6:32am.
I rounded the familiar curve in the road on my way to the historic barn conference and was startled to find a large “rock” directly in front of my right tire. Fortunately, there was no vehicle coming the opposite direction as I swerved out to miss hitting this dark mass. As I swung out into the turn, the “rock” took on a new appearance. Now I saw clearly a prehistoric-looking head peering cautiously at the wide expanse of macadam road that lay before it. Four legs were carrying the “rock” slowly toward the center line. The rough surface I was trying to avoid with my front tire was the hard shell of a giant snapping turtle.
As I pulled my car through the centrifugal force of the curve, I glanced in my rear view mirror to make sure Snap was still crawling. I was hoping the traffic following me could avoid a collision with this reptile, too. I knew it would be a miracle on this busy road for the turtle to achieve its goal of crossing the highway from farm field to swampy meadowland. But it was on a mission. The turtle was completing nature’s life cycle. Our cars and highways weren’t going to get in her way of laying eggs for the next generation of snappers to get started.
The undisturbed life span of a snapping turtle can be nearly a century long. These formidable creatures have an armored shell that is hard to crush. They are not a companion turtle like their gentle brother the painted box turtle. The snapper lets you know it means business when it clamps down on anything foolish enough to get between its powerful jaws.
I met my first snapping turtle during a warm summer when I was in my early teen years. As part of a band of youngsters on horses and ponies, we explored the bottom pasture land along the Swatara Creek. Old canal beds made ideal swimming holes for both kids and equines after spring floods subsided. Riding bareback, our horses would carry us from one end of the pooled water to the other as the cool water slipped over our bodies. With manes and tails flowing, our horses paddled with pleasure while we held onto their slippery hides, making sure we had good grips once our horses’ hooves struck land again. With a lurch, our mounts would leap out of the water as we raced to the next swimming hole to repeat the summer fun.
On one of these days, the group of us spied a brown “rock” moving through the grass. We slid to the ground and picked up the unusual turtle, putting it in a long-discarded metal bucket. We carried our discovery several miles to the home of our junior high school biology teacher. He took one look in the pail and started to laugh. “Haven’t you kids every seen a snapper before?” All of us went pale, thinking that our fingers had been just one bite away from being lunch for this notoriously nasty member of the turtle family. We left the bucket and its cargo with our teacher and headed for the hills.
My encounters with snappers were few and far between since then. We have them on our farms, and occasionally see the females on their journey to higher ground where they will lay their eggs. This year we have a bold snapper who crosses our pasture from a higher pond to the lower pond, risking encounters with our beef cattle as it pulls itself toward the safety of the water. The cows have no tolerance for the unusual "rock" that moves in front of their noses. With threatening bawls, they sometimes flip the turtle over and over. Once the cows lose interest in the intruder, the turtle comes out of its shell and continues its trek toward the pond.
I’ve talked to some folks who enjoy making soup from these tough reptiles. I’m not sure how they find a pot big enough to cook the ones I’ve seen. If the population of snappers keeps growing in our ponds, I may have to get the recipe. Until then, I will just keep avoiding these snappers, whether on the road or on my farm.
Lancaster Farming's guidelines for posting comments on the website ask that you follow the Golden Rule, respecting other opinions and being truthful and civil. Do not post any statements that are illegal, defamatory, obscene, threatening, or plagiarized.
