So I live in Stone Mountain, Georgia. I've been in this house 3 years so I'm new but have never seen snapping turtles this large before in my lake. I live on a small lake about 2 acres, full of crappie (maybe not anymore), surrounded by about a dozen homes. Then theres another lake like 50 feet away with another 5-10 homes around. We're near a small creek that actually runs and connects to another body of water.
About 2 or 3 weeks ago the county was doing some sort of work on the creek, looked like they were replacing a large drain, and then I just saw these guys in my lake for the first time yesterday. Other neighbors said they had seen snapping turtles in the lake… But when I showed them the video they all said holy cow, not like that. I wonder if they saw the box turtles that are always out there and just mistook them. These things in the video are probably 2 to 3 feet wide, like the size of a garbage can lid.
Anyway, my questions are… Is this a problem? Do they ever come around and just go away? Do they find lakes like this and just… Stick around cause the food source is so good?
I have a typical chain link fence so they can't just immediately come in, but I know turtles can burrow if they want and sometimes the little box turtles wind up in our yard. Unsure if these giant monsters would ever do that or why… Or if they could easily get under the fence. I have 3 cats that go in the yard unattended but don't go down to the lake. I have a 10 month old that can't walk yet and doesn't go outside alone obviously. Our backyard is a drop down off the house, so out deck is raised and they probably can't get up here. We don't go swimming out there, but occasionally people fish out there.
My wife says this is their natural habitat but idk how I feel having predators 100 feet from my house. Worth it to have them removed? Or… Just wait for them to go away? Does anyone have experience with this?
I'm not a homesteader by the way, but figured this would be the community for dealing with wild animals around your home. If here's a better reddit please let me know. Thanks guys!
by PimpPirate
15 Comments
Looks like theyre trying to make more for ya 😂
Hey to get that big they pretty dam old i bet u they were there first. Live and let live
I mean I wouldn’t get any ducks anytime soon if I were you.
They eat fish. But, because they eat fish they are also good to eat!
Honestly this is one of the best pieces of wonderful.
Not unless you put your hand in its mouth. Your cats are safe they don’t move that fast on land but they can strike lighting fast. They don’t come on land that much
Only if they get ahold of radiation
So, I witnessed this about 15-20 years ago in a pond across the road in New York’s southern tier. It was probably May, I figured they were mating. I’ve walked across that field many times and never seen them. Haven’t seen them surface again ever since.
Don’t go swimming and you’ll be fine.
They’ll go back to doing other turtle things. Lucky you got to catch them. If you want to live in the woods, occasionally the you’ll see woodland creatures.
Snapping turtles are generally not overly active hunters, but opportunistic ones. They’ll probably be hard on your crappies, but not your cats.
That said, (Northern Appalachia, so bear that in mind) snapping turtles that size are an opportunity. While preparation is not for the faint of heart, they are delicious. We cook up a couple every spring. (Directions & recipes on request )
If you see a female digging a nest, it’s worth noting that the eggs are not as good – they’re bland, a little fishy, and gritty when cooked.
They’re delicious in turtle soup.
A snapping turtle has never killed a person. But I wouldn’t want to swim with one.
I have a small pond on my homestead, about 40×80 feet. I had a few koi in there. Then they just disappeared. A couple days later, I noticed a big snapping turtle. I got him and rehomed him. Bastard.Â
Snapping turtles are not predators to humans. Don’t go touching them and teach your kid to look and don’t touch when he is old enough and they won’t be a problem.
The cats can look after themselves and are more predators than the turtles.