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.
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