Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Tennessee
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 03-28-2009, 05:04 PM
 
Location: Tennessee
37,794 posts, read 40,994,120 times
Reputation: 62169

Advertisements

Since I have been here in Tennessee, I haven't seen any turtles or tortoises except for one huge tortoise in a small zoo and I think that one may have been exotic not local. Today I spotted this one on the side of the road near where I live. It was about as long as my forearm (tip of fingers to elbow) not including the tail. I had my camera in the car so I pulled over, jumped out and took a couple of photos. I didn't touch it. It looks like it's 200 years old but it could be, from all the rain we've had, its shell is just muddy and cruddy looking. Can anyone tell me if this is typically what you see around here? I've never seen a tail like that, either, but I'm more used to turtles in the water than one of these big land things. I took a close up of the head in case the eyes are significant.



Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-28-2009, 05:15 PM
 
375 posts, read 1,096,636 times
Reputation: 514
Looks like a snapping turtle to me. They're mostly aquatic. 12"-18" shell length seems fairly common around here. Be careful, they tend to be aggressive and have a nasty bite.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-28-2009, 05:25 PM
 
16,177 posts, read 32,484,116 times
Reputation: 20587
There are several of those on some ponds in Maryville.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-28-2009, 06:30 PM
 
Location: Tennessee
37,794 posts, read 40,994,120 times
Reputation: 62169
Thanks for the info. I don't live that close to the water except behind the college is a swampy looking pond. Maybe he came from there. There was no way I was going to touch him. He was just too cruddy looking. When I was a kid, I had a pet turtle named Portifoy but he was only as big as my finger and then there was that whole thing back then about turtles and salmonella.

I was thinking he was one of the Comcast Slowskis. He's probably still trying to cross the street.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-28-2009, 07:36 PM
 
Location: Kingsport, TN
1,697 posts, read 6,803,955 times
Reputation: 1793
Yarddawg's correct, that's a Common Snapping Turtle, a wonderful creature that predates dinosaurs. The males are emerging from the muck right now and roaming around to find females to mate with. Here's a good article on your snapper buddy:
Tortoise Trust Web - Conservation and Ecology of Snapping Turtles
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-28-2009, 11:36 PM
 
Location: Tennessee
37,794 posts, read 40,994,120 times
Reputation: 62169
Quote:
Originally Posted by kamoshika View Post
Yarddawg's correct, that's a Common Snapping Turtle, a wonderful creature that predates dinosaurs. The males are emerging from the muck right now and roaming around to find females to mate with. Here's a good article on your snapper buddy:
Tortoise Trust Web - Conservation and Ecology of Snapping Turtles
Wow! That's really interesting. Thanks a bunch (CD wouldn't let me rep you). Within the last two weeks I have seen and photographed 3 things I have never seen before: the snapping turtle, a Cooper's Hawk and a Turkey Vulture.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-29-2009, 06:35 AM
 
Location: Tennessee
1,364 posts, read 4,279,296 times
Reputation: 803
I had one in my front yard last year. I called my local pet store and was told not to go near it if it is a snapping turtle because it will bite. I wasn't sure if it was so I took a long long long pole and touched it. The turtle grabbed onto it. I had to put rocks under open areas of my fence so it wouldn't get in with the dogs. I have no idea where this one came from because there are not lakes, ponds, etc. near us. We live next to a cow farm. I don't ever want to see one of those in my area again. I'm in middle TN, above Nashville.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-29-2009, 08:53 AM
 
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow in "OZ "
24,767 posts, read 28,510,696 times
Reputation: 32860
They can jump and take a good bite out of you........

TVA: River Neighbors - Snapping Turtles
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-30-2009, 06:56 AM
 
Location: at the foot of my mountain
458 posts, read 1,271,577 times
Reputation: 218
and they won't let go until it lightnings...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-30-2009, 08:33 AM
 
Location: Beautiful East TN!!
7,280 posts, read 21,314,459 times
Reputation: 2786
Is it just me or is the shell and nose not right on this one to be a snapper? I thought it was a type of mud turtle, but couldn't find any pictures to verify. I thought all snappers had the nose the juts out a bit? This guy seems to have a rounded nose and there are no diamond shapes on his shell. LauraC did you happen to get any shots of this guys face from the front? I am very curious now hahahahah
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Tennessee
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top