The Turtle Way...

It was probably a hot summer like this one and my dad was too cheap to run the air conditioner. We were kids and did not know it was hot. There was still some woods and creek bottom areas behind our house that had not been cleared for development. The cornfield that took up the land that between my parents house and Pershing Street had been gone less than a decade and there were three large lots with good neighbors, all living the life. It was into my childhood back yard world that a large common snapping turtle crawled up from his habitat into mine.

We poked sticks at the snapper. Not in a cruel way but I like to think that with the supervision of my mother the poking was conducted as a learning experience to demonstrate the power of the snapping jaws. A little turtle research tells me that the common snapping is the most aggressive of the snappers and this one bit with worthy power, grabbing our sticks and appearing to make ready as the old wives tale tells to hold on till it thunders. 

As I say this instance was supervised by my mom and the turtle was allowed to escape and carry on in the turtle way. I'd say the turtle might still be carrying on because though there is not much info it's speculated that these turtles might live 100 years. If I had to guess I would say this incident happened at least 55 years ago.   

Common snapping turtles are considered a species of concern due to the pet trade, habitat loss, generally low reproductive success and the fact that they are the traditional ingredient in turtle soup though eating turtle meat in large quantities is discouraged because it tends to to accumulate toxins. 

We probably called our common snapping turtle an alligator snapper because we did not know better. The two turtles are barely related and it came to my attention through a sign I saw at the boat ramp on Sam Rayburn Reservoir that the alligator snapper is considered a threatened species. That's a more critical designation than a species of concern. I've spotted an alligator snapper or two in the wild but not lately. 

Texas Parks and Wildlife wants all info you can send them about alligator snappers you see whether they be living or dead. Pictures, locations GPS coordinates, and measurements. If you accidently catch one you are to return it to the wild as close as possible as to where it was caught. I have heard this is important and can recall once I picked a red ear slider up from the road and as I was on my way to the woods carried it along with me and released it there. Probably not the right thing to do. 

 The reasons Alligator snappers are threatened is overharvesting, habitat destruction and the exotic pet trade. I guess you can even add in there a guy like me trying to do the right thing. With temps hotter this summer than those summers where my dad did was too cheap to run the air you can probably add the effects of climate change.

The poking of a snapper with a stick is not the best memory of a man and beast encounter. I do recall several years ago a late winter canoe paddle when the lake had not yet become stained from the early season rains. As the boat drifted through the cold clear water it seemed every time I looked over the side there was a turtle swimming under me framed like a picture against the healthy lake vegetation that was flourishing because of sunlight penetration in the shallow water. They looked happy and I left them alone. 

Maybe this small change in my behavior means I'm a better man and on this day the turtles knew it.