Lotti the snapper turtle

Since several weeks, the community of Irsee, Germany, has been “terrorised” by an alligator snapping turtle. It appears that the reptile has chosen a pond used for public swimming (Oggenrieder Weiher) as her new home; and allegedly bit through a boy’s Achilles tendon.

Although the community of Irsee has lovingly baptised her “Lotti”, I am sure that most of the people living in the “terrorised region” are far less appreciative and excited about this turtle than I am.

Snapping turtles are amazing creatures—they have walked with dinosaurs. Snapping turtles have evolved around 40 million years ago. They are very similar to the Proganochelys, the most primitive turtle that existed around 215 million years ago.

Individuals live between 50-100 years. Males measure around 26 inches (66 cm) in shell length and weigh about 175 pounds (80 kg). They have very good eyesight in and out of the water.

Snapping turtles like to fish! They have a bright red, worm shaped tongue, which they let float in the water to lure in fish and frogs.

Snapping turtles can still be found in North America, but they’re registered as a threatened species. They live in the water, but females crawl ashore to nest in the breeding season. There are two types of snapping turtles: the Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) and the Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii). Alligator snapping turtles have a spiked shell, a thick scaled tail, and their most impressive feature—beak-like jaws.

Back in Germany, after a few weeks of intensive search missions, live traps and a drained pond, there is still no sign of Lotti. Specialists are currently training a sniffer dog to search for Lotti.

It is still unclear how Lotti ended up in the pond. The import of Snapper turtles (into Germany) has been forbidden since 1999. Despite their looks, snapper turtles are not aggressive to humans and won’t actively attack humans unless threatened or provoked. Maybe it’ll turn out that after all, there was something much more dangerous lurking behind the seagrass than just a snapper turtle. 

Stern

Tortoisetrust

References

Br.de

National Geographic

Stern

Tortoise trust

Global warming makes apples taste sweeter

It turns out that there are more consequences to global warming than “just” a rise in global temperature – it can also affect the taste and texture of fruit and possibly vegetables.

Japanese researchers showed that the taste and texture of apples had changed as a result of global warming. Over the years, apples became sweeter but softer and more mealy, and less acid.

The scientists analysed data from apple cultivars “Fuji” und “Tsugaru”, which have been cultivated and harvested in the Nagano and Aomori Prefecture since the 1970s.

Over the course of 40 years, average temperature rose in both regions by 0.31 °C and 0.34 °C, and bud break and full bloom dates advanced, while culturing methods remained the same.

The “Fuji” apple is a world leading apple variety, and “Tsugaru” is the second most common variety in Japan. For Japan’s top two apple-producing regions, and probably many other regions that could be affected by a rise in temperature, climate change could have significant impact on agriculture.

References

"Changes in the taste and textural attributes of apples in response to climate change",Toshihiko Sugiura et al., 15 August 2013.