A tale of two turtles: A mystery virus has devastated Australia’s Bellinger River snapping turtles – but that's not the only threat. – via Herp Digest

Cosmos, The Science of Everything by Dyani Lewis 1/14/19

It was a warm February evening in 2015 and Sydney’s Taronga Zoo had emptied of visitors for the day. But behind closed gates, Karrie Rose and her team were gearing up for a long night. Their task: to find out what was killing the rare Bellinger River snapping turtle (Myuchelys georgesi).

Two days earlier, the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) had launched an investigation following reports from kayakers of sick and dead turtles. Whatever had turned their home, five hours’ drive north of Sydney, into a killing field looked like it could push the species to extinction in a matter of weeks.

The 20 snapping turtles that landed on Rose’s doorstep were blinded and covered in ulcers, emaciated and lethargic. Their prognosis was grim.

“It was really dramatic,” said Rose, head wildlife vet at the Australian Registry of Wildlife Health at Taronga Conservation Society. “I’d never seen anything that acted that quickly in the wild.”

Into the early hours of the morning, Rose and her team measured, photographed and dissected the turtles to glean as much information as they could about the mysterious illness that was leaving two other species of turtle in the river unscathed.

The disease, Rose thought, had all the hallmarks of an infection. “It was highly inflammatory,” she said, “so it really suggested that there was an infectious agent in there.” Finding no signs of bacteria, fungi or parasites, she narrowed her focus to ranavirus, which had been implicated in mass mortality events in other turtle populations.

To test her hunch, and every other possibility, diagnostic and research labs around the country were enlisted to assist in the reptilian whodunit. As a result, ranavirus and an array of other known diseases were quickly ruled out.

One of the recipients of turtle blood, snot and body organs was Peter Kirkland, an animal virologist at the Elizabeth Macarthur Agricultural Institute in Menangle, an hour south-west of Sydney. Within weeks, Kirkland’s team had coaxed viral particles to blossom in flasks of cells inoculated with diseased turtle tissue. From the virus-laden flasks, they were able to extract and then sequence the virus’s genetic essence – its nucleic acids.

Kirkland not only discovered that the virus was completely new to science, he also was able to fashion a rapid diagnostic test for the illness, now known as Bellinger River Virus. To check that it was the virus that was making the turtles sick, his team tested the tissue samples Rose had sent him. Some samples, he said, had “extremely large quantities of the virus”.

The test quickly became a central tool in parallel efforts set in motion just days after the first reports of dying turtles came in. The goal was to prevent annihilation of the remaining snapping turtles and save the species from extinction.

During the rescue mission, coordinated by a recovery team at the OEH, park rangers and biologists scoured the turtle’s habitat. As the death toll climbed to several hundred – a devastating blow to a population of only a few thousand – 17 healthy looking turtles were spirited away to hastily constructed quarantine facilities at Western Sydney University, under the care of turtle ecologist Ricky Spencer.

The turtles remained healthy, and Kirkland’s diagnostic test eventually confirmed they were free of the virus that he’d isolated in his lab. Also virus free are 53 turtle hatchlings – and counting. The medallion-sized youngsters are the products of an unexpectedly successful captive breeding program established at Taronga Zoo with 16 of the survivors.

“They are the future for these animals,” said Adam Skidmore, a reptile keeper who oversees the Taronga program. A second insurance population also has been established at Symbio Wildlife Park in Helensburgh, about 45 kilometres south of Sydney’s CBD.

While the turtles thrive in their artificial ponds – away from hungry foxes, and with a plentiful supply of food – the future of the snapping turtle back in its home hangs in the balance. Nobody can say where the virus came from – “the million dollar question,” said Kirkland – or whether it lingers still in the waters of the Bellinger.

Regardless, the OEH recovery team is already gearing up to release 10 of Skidmore’s turtles into the Bellinger River this summer, where they will be periodically tested for signs of the virus.

They won’t be alone. In a bizarre twist, biologists monitoring the river discovered that the virus took out virtually all the adults but left juvenile turtles unharmed. “Were they infected, or were they just not exposed?” asked Rose. Kirkland is working on a test to answer that question.

If it turns out that juveniles can withstand infection and develop immunity, then careful inoculation of youngsters prior to release could safeguard them against future outbreaks.

Protecting the population will require more than just ensuring the river is disease free. It’s likely that other factors – droughts sparked by climate change, say, or a diminishing food supply – helped create a “perfect storm” that led to the outbreak being so deadly. “It’s rarely just one thing,” said Rose, who has seen an uptick in wildlife outbreaks in recent years. “It’s a trend that’s happening globally.”

Devastating disease isn’t the only threat to the survival of the species. Another, and perhaps more immediate danger comes from one of its close relatives, the Murray River short-necked turtle (Emydura macquarii). Since the outbreak, this interloper has thrived in the Bellinger River – more so, perhaps, than in its native habitat west of the Great Dividing Range, where its populations are dwindling.

The two turtles can interbreed to produce genetic hybrids. That’s bad news for the snapping turtle, because repeated hybridisation with the now abundant short-necked turtles could send it down a slow path to oblivion.

Decisions will need to be made quickly. Juveniles in the Bellinger River are approaching their breeding age of eight-to-ten years, so working out how to manage the short-necked turtles will be “critical”, says Gerry McGilvray, who heads snapping turtle recovery efforts at the OEH. She’s convening an expert workshop early in 2019 to come up with a plan.

For Spencer, the solution, from an ecological point of view, is a no-brainer: “You take [the short-necked turtles] out and euthanase them.” But, he says, with a public that’s often loath to kill any wildlife – introduced or otherwise – “conservation biology is a little bit more than just ecology”.

Study shows commercial harvest of snapping turtles is leading to population decline-VCU biologists are informing state regulations on commercial harvest levels. – via Herp Digest

Ben Colteaux, Ph.D., in the Integrative Life Sciences program holds a snapping turtle in the field. (Photo credit: Courtesy of Team Snapper)

By Leah Small

University Public Affairs

804-828-8355

smalllm@vcu.edu

Wednesday, Oct. 25, 2017

Crawling through neck-high mud on riverbanks is a dirty job, but someone has to do it for the sake of Virginia’s snapping turtles.

That task falls on Benjamin Colteaux, a Ph.D. candidate in Virginia Commonwealth University’s Integrative Life Sciences program, and other members of “Team Snapper” working in the lab of Derek Johnson, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Biology in the College of Humanities and Sciences.

For four years, the researchers spent several weeks at a time trekking through muddy turtle turf to catch and tag the animals, and record indices of health and growth for multiple studies on the impacts of wild turtle harvesting. 

“Some would say it’s disgusting and messy, but for my team and me it’s been a blast!” Colteaux said.

Team Snapper has documented the extent of snapping turtle population decline due to skyrocketing rates of harvesting in Virginia — a trend also occurring in other states. Three tributaries of the Mattaponi, Chickahominy and Rappahannock rivers served as study sites with harvest levels ranging from zero to almost 50 percent of the snapping turtle population.   

More than 200,000 wild snapping turtles were harvested across the United States in 2012 and 2014, Colteaux said, a dramatic increase from the nearly 50,000 harvested cumulatively from 1999 to 2011. 

Colteaux said increased harvesting of wild snapping turtles may indicate growing pressure on domestic snapping turtle farms, which may not be meeting demand. The vast majority of wild snapping turtles harvested throughout the country are exported to Asian markets, mainly China, where animal populations have been decimated and farming efforts are nascent, he added.

Colteaux, who heads the snapping turtle project, is partnering with Johnson on four scientific papers that will show the impacts of harvesting on wild snapping turtle populations. During his dissertation defense in November, Colteaux will present data gathered in the field from 2012 to 2015.

The pair published a paper last year in the Journal for Nature Conservation on the efficacy of size limits for harvest reduction. In addition, one of Colteaux’s field technicians went on to earn her master’s degree in environmental studies from VCU based on data from this project. 

“Low hatchling survival, combined with late maturation and prolonged harvest, has the potential to decimate populations in a very short period of time,” Colteaux said. “Even if harvest is reduced or eliminated, it will take decades for populations to rebound.” 

In Virginia, the population decline has led to consideration of regulatory changes that would further protect the turtles. The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries, the state’s primary wildlife regulatory agency, has funded most of Team Snapper’s work to learn more about snapping turtle population stress. The researchers have also received substantial contributions from the VCU Rice Rivers Center. 

“It’s one thing to say we need to preserve wild snapping turtle populations, but protective legislation is made more effective when it’s informed by solid research,” Colteaux said.

Saving the turtles

The data to back up stronger regulations to protect turtles was difficult to collect, considering the aquatic creatures’ habit of submerging to dine on fish and the detritus on river bottoms. Team Snapper spent months traipsing through muck to set 20 netted traps daily in each of the three study sites. Armed with protective gauntlets that guard against the animal’s claws and powerful legs, the researchers checked the traps the morning after setting them. They recorded weight, size, sex and other demographic measurements for any turtles that wandered into the nets.

Team Snapper measures a turtle's shell and fits it with a tracking device. Trackers help scientists determine the animal's territorial boundaries. (Photo credit: Courtesy of Team Snapper)

“Each one is then fitted with a numbered tag, in the hope of recapturing them at some later date,” Colteaux said. “It’s incredibly hard work and a lot of trudging through mud and hauling back nets and turtles.”

When turtles are recaptured over subsequent seasons, the researchers are able to record growth rates and estimate population sizes. Many of the turtles are fitted with tracking devices that are painlessly bolted onto their shells, allowing the team to track range boundaries, assess whether animals are territorial and identify variations in range size between the sexes and across seasons. 

“We use a handheld receiver to track their positions. Frequently, we were up to our necks in mud or water with the receiver overhead following the beeps,” Colteaux said.

This work is the first of its kind, Colteaux said. Previous studies on these animals have focused on lakes and other still bodies of water. Team Snapper has collected a wealth of new information on turtle life in river systems that can be used to launch more studies by researchers at any institution. 

“Studying these animals in an open water system is critical to understanding the potential effects prolonged harvest has had on populations, as the majority of wild turtles harvested come from rivers and not lakes or ponds,” Colteaux said. 

Field technician Eric Burke uses a radio receiver to track snapping turtles. (Photo credit: Courtesy of Team Snapper)

Changing regulations 

Virginia is one of many states that have regulations on the size snapping turtles must reach before harvest. In 2012, size limits were increased from a curved carapace length of nine inches (which is a measurement of a shell from front to back over its peak) to a length of 11 inches. 

While that is an improvement, it is not enough to protect the turtles, Colteaux said. Totuskey Creek, located off the Rappahannock River, had an estimated harvest rate as high as 46 percent annually from 2012-2015. The rate was the highest of the three sites studied. Meanwhile, in areas untouched by harvesting, turtle populations are thriving. One such site is Morris Creek, a tributary of the Chickahominy River, which had an estimated annual population increase of 4 percent over the same time frame. VDGIF staffing constraints have also hampered regulation enforcement and public attention has focused more on the protection of big game, Colteaux added.  

But as concern for snapping turtles grows, so does self-policing by the watermen who harvest the animals. Many harvesters frequently report to authorities incidences of overharvesting by watermen from neighboring states working under Virginia licenses. The majority of commercial snapping turtle harvest in Virginia is driven by out-of-state harvesters, Colteaux said. 

“The VDGIF receives many calls that are from lifetime harvesters who say their fathers taught them and it’s a family tradition. They are complaining there are too many out-of-state harvesters taking too much,” he said. “They are at least letting us know where there might be a problem and allowing us to get some eyes on the issue.” 

The researchers also work with domestic turtle processing plants to ensure the facilities are not purchasing from harvesters animals that do not meet the size limit. One of the largest of these plants is located in Maryland. From there, live females are shipped to China to augment aquaculture operations. Males are mostly butchered, and the meat sold to a variety of domestic and foreign markets. A small turtle plant that serves local markets is located in Virginia Beach. 

Armed with gauntlets, or protective gloves, Colteaux holds a snapping turtle. (Photo credit: Courtesy of Team Snapper)

To better inform VDGIF regulators on turtle harvesting, the researchers are calculating the impact that Virginia’s previous and current harvest size limits have on population decline. They are also analyzing a plethora of potential harvest regulations to find the best method to ensure viability of the populations. Two scenarios include increases to the minimum size limit and the establishment of a maximum size limit.

As Colteaux’s mentor and co-author, Johnson taught the wildlife conservationist much of the analysis and data interpretation required to draw conclusions from the scenarios. 

Johnson helped Colteaux use data on growth rates gathered from his recapture of snapping turtles, and other indicators of population health, to determine the impacts of overharvesting. 

“When we combine Ben’s data with other information on snapping turtles like harvest rates, survival probability and reproductive output, we can model population growth under various harvest pressure scenarios,” Johnson said. 

According to the researchers’ models, if the stress on the population is reduced, snapping turtles could have a fighting chance because they are naturally hardy creatures.  

“Once they get to the adult stage, they are bullet proof,” Colteaux said. “Their estimated rate of survival at that point is about 94 percent and they can live upwards of 50 years. But getting them to that point is really tough under current harvest conditions.”

Ontario asked to ban hunting for snapping turtles- People can kill two turtles each day and many places across the province allow the hunt year-round - via Herp Digest

CBC News-Jan 26, 2017

People in Ontario are allowed to kill two snapping turtles each day, a practice area conservationists and politicians in Essex want stopped.

 

Members of the public have until Jan. 30 to tell Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry whether they want to end the hunt once and for all, versus accepting a government proposal to continuing the hunt with restrictions.

Scott Gillingwater from the Upper Thames Conservation Authority said he is writing to the province to support an end to hunting the prehistoric-looking turtles.

"It sends a confusing message to the public to be able to hunt an animal that many people spend a lot of time and a lot of money to protect wetlands and protect these species, so it seems kind of in vain when these animals are lost due to a legal hunt," he said.

Snapping turtles are listed as a "species of special concern" in Ontario and are the only turtle that can legally be hunted, he added.

In 2012 the Town of Essex led a local effort to halt the hunt, but Coun. Sherry Bondy said they were unsuccessful.

This year the town is trying again and has re-sent their 2012 motion to the ministry.

Unlike other animals, female turtles take a long time to become sexually mature which means they don't lay eggs when they're young, said Bondy.

"Snapping turtles already have so many things coming after them. There are developments and they're dying on the road," she explained. "But they're bottom-feeders that are really important to the food chain."

Minnesota meat market owner accused of illegally snapping up snapping turtles – via Herp Digest

By Nathan Bowe / Forum News Service Oct 24, 2015 

FRAZEE, Minn. – One of the owners of Ketter's meat market here has been charged with two misdemeanors for allegedly taking and possessing snapping turtles out of season.

Kevin Robert Ketter, 54, of Frazee has been charged in Becker County District Court with possessing wild animals in violation of state law and taking snapping turtles in a closed season.

In the citation, the DNR officer wrote, "Ketter acknowledged he purchased turtles and was in possession of snapping turtles during June, during the closed season."

State law prohibits taking snapping turtles in May and June.

Ketter could not be reached for comment Friday.

Two other men were also charged with misdemeanors in the case, which involved an undercover DNR operative, surveillance photos and a search warrant.

Jordan Michael Ketter, 21, of Frazee, was charged with taking snapping turtles in a closed season. On the citation, the DNR officer wrote: "Ketter was observed on surveillance, unloading several turtles from the back of a vehicle he is known to drive."

Darwin Duane Bartel, 54, of Frazee, was also charged with taking snapping turtles in a closed season. On the citation, the DNR officer wrote: "Bartel admitted to possessing the snapping turtle during the closed season — he brought it to the market to clean for his personal use."

All three men were cited Oct. 19.

Besides the covert agent, the DNR involved another secret weapon: photos.

"Based in part upon past information related to the illegal possession of snapping turtles, surveillance equipment was installed near Ketter's meat market in June," DNR Conservation Office Chris Vinton wrote in the search warrant application.

"Surveillance photos show numerous snapping turtles brought into Ketter's meat market by various vehicles for sale and/or processing from June 13 to June 18. Some of the vehicles are registered to employees at Ketter's."

The DNR officer checked and found that Ketter's is not a licensed turtle seller in Minnesota.

According to the DNR, several factors prompted concern for the snapping turtle's status in Minnesota and led to its listing as a special concern species in 1984.

The major factor is the unknown and possibly detrimental effects of commercial harvest on local populations. Common snapping turtles are harvested for their meat, and used for human consumption.

The Minnesota DNR allows licensees to take an unlimited number of adults, provided that the shell length is greater than 12 inches.

Bellinger River snapping turtles face extinction from mystery virus on NSW mid north coast

By Tom Lowrey

Posted Wed at 7:51am

A rare freshwater turtle species may soon become extinct because of a mystery virus in the population on the NSW mid north coast.

Sick and dying Bellinger River snapping turtles have been washing up on the banks of the Bellinger River, near the town of Bellingen, since mid-February.

The virus attacks the turtles' internal organs, leaving them blind and starving, and most survive only a few days.

So far more than 300 have died as the virus travels upstream.

It is estimated there are only a few thousand of the snapping turtles within the river system.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) has set up an incident management team to manage the situation, and try and save the species.

Deputy Incident Controller Geoff Ross said no turtles had survived the illness.

"It has 100 per cent mortality," Mr Ross said.

"There is no chance any turtle that has this disease has survived."

Continued ...

Snapping turtles to get added protection - Herp Digest

 By Kate Elizabeth Queram / Halifax Media Services

Published: Saturday, November 29, 2014 at 05:53 PM

The Federal Fish and Wildlife is proposing additional protective measures for several species of freshwater turtles, including the snapping turtle, which resides in all 100 of North Carolina’s counties. The measures would help monitor the foreign turtle trade, as snapping turtles are frequently exported for use in food, medicine and other commodities.

.In response to population threats from increased demand overseas, the federal Fish and Wildlife Service is seeking protective measures for snapping turtles, a freshwater reptile that resides in all 100 counties in North Carolina.

“A number of Asian countries eat a lot of turtles, and use them in medicines and things like that,” said Jeff Hall, a Partners in Amphibian and Reptile Conservation biologist with the N.C. Wildlife Resources Commission. “North America in the last couple of decades has been targeted pretty well in terms of harvesting animals from here to be shipped there. Right now we don’t have a lot of good information about how many animals are shipped, but (this change) would allow Fish and Wildlife to track the animal.”

The snapping turtle is one of four that would be protected under the new rules, proposed two weeks ago. The Florida softshell turtle, the smooth softshell turtle and the spiny softshell turtle are also included in the measure. Two sub-species of the spiny softshell turtle reside in North Carolina, in the Piedmont region and the mountains, but none of the others live here.

None of the four are in danger of extinction, but their long-term survival could be threatened if turtle exports continue unchecked. According to the federal agency, 811,717 live snapping turtles were exported from 2009 to 2011, the most recent year that data was available. Exports of snapping turtle meat also increased during that same time period. Those numbers, pulled from U.S. export records, are likely low, as exporters aren’t currently required to declare turtle shipments by species.

“What we’re trying to do is monitor the trade as a way of preventing the species from becoming endangered,” said Bruce Weissgold, an international trade expert with the federal agency.

It’s also not clear how many exported turtles are caught in the wild, which is permitted in most states, including North Carolina.

“If you want to catch more than four snapping turtles, you need a wildlife collection license, which costs $5,” Hall said. “That allows the person to collect as many as 10 per day, up to 100 per year. We have seen an increase in the number of people applying for that license, and in the number of people out there trapping turtles.”

Snapping turtles reside in freshwater and brackish marshes and rivers throughout the state. They’re brown-grey and large, between 10 and 20 inches long, and live the majority of their lives in the water, though they’re occasionally found on land while moving from place to place.

“If you happen upon a snapping turtle on land, it’s because they are moving from one wetland to another, or it’s a female that’s coming to lay her eggs,” Hall said. “Their defense is kind of to turn and face their attacker and gape their mouth. Speed is not their ally when they’re out on land.”

The proposed protective measure would list the turtles in a special appendix under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES, which aims to protect species vulnerable to over-harvesting through international trade. Once the turtles are listed, trading them internationally requires a permit that specifies that the animal was caught in a way that’s allowable under state law, and that it’s shipped overseas humanely. That process will give federal officials more information about how many wild turtles are being exported each year, which could help manage their populations.

“Beyond collecting data on exports, this listing also allows us to essentially request the help of other CITES parties in monitoring the trade of these species, because customs control is generally done at the importing end,” Weissgold said. “They’ll be more closely scrutinized on the receiving end, which will give us greater confidence that illegal trade is not occurring.”

For more information or to comment on the proposal, visit 1.usa.gov/1sJcrLm. The comments period ends on Dec. 29.

Japan: Snapping turtles menace farmers and residents

5 August 2014 Last updated at 10:52

Japan is reportedly facing a surge in its population of snapping turtles - threatening some of the country's fragile ecosystems as well as its people's fingers.

Snapping turtles originally come from the Americas, but turned up in Japan as pets in the 1960s, Kyodo news agency reports. Some turtles must have escaped to the wild, as there were an estimated 1,000 turtles roaming the Chiba Prefecture 10 years ago. The turtles have been classed in Japan as an invasive species and are eating up fish, bird and weed stocks, and chewing their way through fishermen's nets.

Continued ...

Snapping Turtles Finding Refuge in Urban Areas While Habitats Are Being Polluted

Aug. 27, 2013 — In the Midwest, some people have a fear of encountering snapping turtles while swimming in local ponds, lakes and rivers. Now in a new study, a University of Missouri researcher has found that snapping turtles are surviving in urban areas as their natural habitats are being polluted or developed for construction projects. One solution is for people to stop using so many chemicals that are eventually dumped into the waterways, the scientist said.

"Snapping turtles are animals that can live in almost any aquatic habitat as long as their basic needs for survival are met," said Bill Peterman, a post-doctoral researcher in the Division of Biological Sciences at MU. "Unfortunately, suitable aquatic habitats for turtles are being degraded by pollution or completely lost due to development. We found that snapping turtles can persist in urbanized areas, despite the potential for more interaction with humans."

Peterman said that reducing negative inputs, such as waste and harmful chemicals, into waterways will help restore snapping turtles' habitats. Engaging in this type of environmental action also will increase biodiversity in those habitats and improve the quality of life to all species that call those habitats home.

However, even though turtles are living in urban areas, Peterman says people have nothing to fear.

Continued

How an Expert Trapper Catches Huge Snapping Turtles in Indiana – via Herp Digest

Article by Ben Romans. Field & Stream, July 23, 2013

For photos of turtles he catches--Go to http://www.fieldandstream.com/articles/hunting/2013/07/record-snapping-turtle-trapped-indiana

When Bill Haywood was 10 years old, he was trapping snapping turtles that weighed more than he did using traps he built, local bait, and self-taught techniques. Decades later, he’s teaching his 16-year old son Canaan all he's learned and is seeing more success than he ever did trapping solo. On Memorial Day weekend, acting on his trapper’s instincts, the duo caught the largest snapper Haywood has seen in 17 years—one that could claim the title for largest living snapping turtle.

Raised in rural Indiana, Haywood says his lifelong fascination with snapping turtles began with stories from his grandfather; folk legends replete with massive snappers, unconfirmed sightings, and nicknames like The Beast of Busco.

“I heard my grandpa tell a story of a giant turtle in Churubusco, Indiana. According to him, this farmer claims he saw a huge turtle that weighed hundreds of pounds. Word spread, and people came by the scores to try to find it,” Haywood says. “They named it Oscar, and newspaper reporters, scuba divers, and fortune seekers went looking for it. But in the end, nobody found it, and the farmer nearly went broke trying to find the turtle... I think he ended up draining the lake but there was no sign of it. The story actually became part of the town’s identity—it has a statue of a turtle, and they have a Turtle Days festival every year.”

Without access to some of the farm ponds, Haywood learned to trap on public creeks and rivers. Though he now has access to several properties, he still builds his own traps and uses the same techniques he did as a kid.

“I build traps out of 12 gauge horse fencing so they’re three feet wide, five feet long, and two feet deep with an entrance at one end and place it shallow enough so a trapped turtle can breathe, otherwise they drown. Anyways, Indiana state law says the opening of the trap has to be above water level. Turtles find their way in, but have trouble finding their way out,” Haywood says.

“For bait, I think carp work the best. I put them in gunny sacks and drop a few in the freezer. Once they’re frozen, I chop one up with an ax and hang big chunks in empty coffee cans on the inside of the traps. As the carp thaws, the oil seeping from the meat really draws the turtles in. One 20 pound carp is enough to fill up about six traps.”

Most people wince at the idea of oily carp and catching or handling something as unattractive, or as dangerous as a snapping turtle. But Haywood, who’s also an avid hunter, says turtle trapping offers a great reason to get outside, and those that cringe at the idea, probably don’t know turtle makes excellent table fare.

“I trap a lot of muskrat, beaver and mink, and I big game hunt. But in the middle of the summer, there’s not a lot to hunt or trap, so I just trap turtles,” Haywood says. “Turtle meat is very tasty. I like to brown it in a skillet and eat it with gravy. Other people put it in a pressure cooker or make soup; however you do it, it’s really good. I keep some of the turtles that are 20 pounds or bigger. But there are still a lot of old timers around here that still love to eat turtle. I just go around and give a turtle to whoever wants one.”

While he enjoys it, Haywood points out trapping isn’t without its share of danger. Along with its hard shell, the business end of a snapping turtle is its best defense.

“It was only a matter of time before one clamped down on my hand. One bit me so hard the beak punctured through my hand and ripped off a big chunk of skin. I have a nice scar to remember that one,” Haywood says. “Once they bite down and realize they have flesh, they start pulling their head back into the shell and they don’t let go. It’s excruciating, but there’s nothing you can do. You can’t get loose. You just have to wait until they let go.”

Aside from the taste of turtle meat, returning home with all his fingers, and the sense of accomplishment from hanging a trophy turtle shell among his big game trophies on the wall, Haywood says he likes the challenge of it all, and each time he ventures out, he tries to trap a turtle that beats his personal best of 43 inches in length. It's a record he hasn't topped in 17 years.

This past Memorial Day weekend, accompanied by his son Canaan on their first father-son trapping outing, Haywood was finally able to break that record.

“I told [my son] my goal has always been to beat that personal record,” Haywood says. “That Friday before Memorial Day, we caught a 38 pounder that was 44 inches long, so we did what we set out to do. I jokingly said ‘take a good look at this turtle, cause it may be 17 years before you see one bigger.’”

But the next morning, in a new lake they’d never explored before, they did.

“I love trapping turtles around beaver lodges. That’s where you find the big ones. This place just looked like perfect turtle habitat. I just had a feeling about it,” Haywood says. “Tag teaming that turtle was just a great father-son experience. There were three or four other turtles in the trap with it, and when we started getting it out of the water, the big one started tearing that trap apart. I think the trap weighed over 100 pounds, and in the confusion, I accidentally knocked my son out of the boat trying to load it.”

Some states recognize record turtles, but Indiana is not one of them. However, Haywood did a little research and had the animal measured by a certified herpetologist. From what he can tell, his recent catch is one of the biggest on record.

“The shell was 19.62 inches long, but the turtle’s total length was 50.87 inches from nose to tail,” Haywood says. “There was one in Massachusetts with a 19.8 inch shell, but I think it died about three years ago, so my understanding is this could be the largest, living, wild snapping turtle on record. I’m not sure if that will ring true if I let it go, but I’m trying to find out. I still have the turtle [alive], and I can’t keep it forever.”

Haywood laughs knowing that as quickly as he helped his son set the bar to judge future turtle catches, he helped him raise it, but insists even if it takes another 17 years to break his personal record, he’ll enjoy every second of it.

“So far this year, my son and I have been trapping three weekends and have got 123, which came out to 1,400 pounds of turtle,” Haywood says. “We just enjoy it. It’s simple fun, and that’s sometimes hard to find.”

Small town council calls for snapping turtle protection - via Herp Digest

 CBC (Toronto, Ontario) 5/8/12 A small bedroom community southeast of Windsor, Ont., has started a campaign to save snapping turtles from being hunted.

Essex town council will send a motion to the provincial Ministries of Natural Resources and Environment, requesting a ban on hunting the reptiles.

Coun. Sherry Bondy is behind the campaign.

"Snapping turtles are important to our local eco-system. They cleanse our marshes; they eat all the dead carcasses; they provide, as they go through the marshes, many habitats for smaller little insects and animals," Bondy said. "Their eggs are food for other animals. They're really fragile. They have so much to offer."

The snapping turtle is a "special concern species" under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act. According to the Ministry of Natural Resources, the snapping turtle has also been assessed nationally as a special concern species by the federal Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.

"Because they have such a long time before they become sexually mature,they really don't have eggs when they're young, so we have to protect the older ones," Bondy sail.

In April, naturalist group Ontario Nature submitted a petition to the provincial government — signed by 11,000 people — calling for an end to the hunt.

John Urquhart, a conservation science manager with Ontario Nature, said fewer than seven of 10,000 snapping turtle eggs reaches adulthood, so every single turtle is crucial to the continuation of the species. 

If they do survive, Urquhart said they can live longer than most humans.

“For a creature to have been walking around since before the first world war to be killed, whether it’s on a road or by hunting or habitat loss, it's just a shame,” Urquhart said.

Ministry of Natural Resources policy allows anyone with a provincial game or fishing licence to "bag" up to two snapping turtles a day.