She looks content there. We have 'arry the Hedgehog, you'll have to give her a name so you can tell us about her daily adventures like Riley does!

How about Myrtle the Turtle

antsinmypants said: How about Myrtle the Turtle

I like that!

That is a common snapper. These turtles can jump towards you, extend their necks and give you a nasty bite. If you want to remove it, pick it up by the carapace closet to the tail, watching to see the head doesn't swing back and bite. They prefer water, although as was stated they come onto land to lay eggs. The eggs are usually laid quite close to the body of water the turtle lives in, like gators nests. It has to be close because the baby turtles hatching out have to make a run for the water. There is a high mortality rate for all turtle young, they are tasty bites for all kinds of predators such as raptors, coyotes, skunks, coons and bears.

we have snappers here and that's what it looks like to me. If you have cats/dogs you might want to move it out of your yard, do not relocate to another place altogether. A 10 inch snapping turtle may be able to bite your pets. They have serious power in that bite. Turtles are territorial and they do not like being moved to another place, they usually die is my understanding. They know where they are and when moved they are disoriented.

You are so right, FrillyLily. There was an article in my local paper about turtles, and the Game and Fish says not to move them, and if you have to don't move them far. The three toed box turtle stays a 10 to 25 acre section for its entire life, they can live up to 25 years. I have no idea how long snappers live. Turtles do have a pretty strong homing instinct. If they are moved too far they might not survive in an area they don't know anything about.

I'm not moving the turtle. Right now she's in my fenced garden.

I do wish she'd move on though cause she's in with my peppers, tomatoes, & beans & isn't very careful

maybe she can't find the exact spot she came in under the fence? I don't know if snappers need water to live (how long they can go without?) but she may need to go back to the water. If you know where she came in at, maybe put her there and see if she goes out?

How long can a snapping turtle stay out of water?
Turtles can usually stay out of water for around 8 hours. However, this depends on the environment of the land they are on. If the area has a cool temperature, a turtle can stay out of the water for a couple days. That being said, a turtle will run into serious digestion issues if they stay out of water too long.

This is from CT.gov
So it there is a close water source near you that you think she came from I would try to get her back there.

Near the bottom of the first link, there is contact info for the state herpetologist who can hopefully give you good info. At the second link, I read that Illinois snapping turtles lay eggs late-May or early June, but this one may just be running late?

At any rate, I'd leave it alone if it isn't causing problems for you, and get expert advice if it is.

https://www.wildlifeillinois.o...
https://www2.illinois.gov/dnr/...

It's definitely a snapper and they are mean. Their jaws are unbelievably strong. They bite. We have them at our back pond and keep our distance.

Box turtles are so sweet and I will stop traffic if I can when one is crossing the road to get them to safety. We have box turtles as well but they are on higher ground than the snappers.

I have straw as mulch in the garden. She's been staying under it but I haven't seen her today & I'm not poking my hands down in the straw to find her

I'm used to the really big snappers like in Mississippi. You know the ones, big as a garbage can lid. We even stop to try to get them out of the road

Thank you for the links

Those you're talking about are the alligator snappers, and yes, they get quite large! I saw some in the White River in North Arkansas, this is water straight out from underneath a dam, and very clear; it's trout water. I saw some really huge ones on the bottom, about 15 feet down. The turbines were all operating, so the water was moving at a fast clip, the turtles had wedged themselves under logs on the bottom. They have a little protrusion on their tongue that looks just like a little pink worm, to attract small fish they open their mouths and dangle that tongue protrusion and bam! There's supper.

Someone beat me to the warning! i was goingto say a fariend tried to pick up a snapper and its head shot out and back to tail end. Friend was lucky he lost no fingers! Still, they deserve to live and i will help them across the road. Keep a long stick in my van if see a snapper, can get it to grab on stick and safely carry across. I live inthe woods on south facing bluff so get every known critter living in Missouri., even have a cougar.

Yes, I think southern snappers have longer necks than the one in question.

Their jaw structure is unbelievably strong. They could very easily bite off fingers.

My Uncle grew up by a creek with snapping turtles. Some of them could extend their necks to two feet, with unbelievably powerful jaws, as Vic said. He was always very careful around them, because certain people in that area had actually had fingers bitten off.

https://animals.mom.com/how-to...

link to info about IDing snapper turtles

thanks for the interesting informative discussion!