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VIDEO: Alligator Snapping Turtle Found on Road

alligator snapping turtle | 23 weeks 3 days ago | Comments 10

By Jack Fichter

Photos and Video by Rick Racela

Lower Township Animal Control Officer Don Montgomery removed an 80 pound alligator snapping turtle from Fulling Mill Road near Villas April 25.

They are the largest fresh water turtle in North America and normally only nesting females will venture onto a road. The alligator snapping turtle is categorized as very aggressive when cornered and capable of a bite that will amputate a finger.

The alligator snapping turtle prefers minnows but will also eat dead fish, snakes and other turtles.
It is believed the turtles will live to 150 years old in the wild and 20 to 70 years in captivity. The alligator snapping turtle is considered endangered in several states including IIlinois.

Montgomery said he will return the turtle to a fresh water pond off Fulling Mill Road.

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Comments (10)

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Tue, 04/29/2008 - 12:42pm

I had one cross my street last weekend...lenape dr. in erma...it wandered out of the woods

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Mon, 04/28/2008 - 3:37pm

Um, yeah, that is a common snapping turtle not an alligator snapper. Chelydra serpintina looks like(there are 4 subspiecies of the common btw) To the person in Wisconsin, I do not believe the gator snapper is in that range, so what you are most likely seeing are common snappers.
Look up gator snapper, and common snapper on google, or go to www.chelydra.org and you can see the difference! Owning 4 common snappers as pets myself, I can tell you 2000% that this video is of a common snapper, NOT an Aly!

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Mon, 04/28/2008 - 9:57am

While driving north on Rt. 47 in the vicinity of Dias Creek on Sunday 4/27, I passed a rather large turtle beginning to cross the road. I stopped, turned the car around to rescue it and some creep in a black pickup proceeded to crunch the poor thing under his tire. if you can't share the road or you're that blind you can't see a big, slow turtle, go home. Thanks for the tears, a__hole.

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Mon, 04/28/2008 - 8:28am

That's a common snapping turtle, not an alligator snapper. Also, it's probably around 30lbs, its not anywhere close to 80lbs.

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Sun, 04/27/2008 - 9:44pm

does anyone know how to read. it says they will return him to a fresh water pond off fulling mill

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Sun, 04/27/2008 - 6:39pm

Looks like a common snapper, not alligator.

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Sun, 04/27/2008 - 6:35pm

Put it back where it belongs nitwit

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Sun, 04/27/2008 - 11:43am

yeah that makes alot of sense put him back in the middle of the road!!!

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Sun, 04/27/2008 - 11:43am

There are so many alligator snappers in Wisconsin that they are a nuisance. They are everywhere around any lake or large body of water. They often appear in yards to bury their eggs and when their young appear they scatter in all different directions.

So there maybe a shorage of them in some states, but they need to have some kind of population control in WIsconsin.

I heard that Minnesotans make a pretty decent soup out of them. However it doesn't appeal to me at all.

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Sun, 04/27/2008 - 9:44am

Put him back where you found him. Make a law to protect him. for now. In ten years theres a big bounty of snapper soup for locals in the winter

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