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Project Noah Nature School
Macrochelys temminckii
They have a large head with a pointed snout. The shell is thick and has three rows of spikes down the back.
Found in the southeastern US in flowing waters. This guy was actually found in a still water pond in a swampy area.
We were taking blood from this guy to get DNA samples for another graduate student who is working on turtle genetics. He was quite feisty and was just waiting for someone to get a body part close enough for him to remove it! He was released back into the pond he came from after we took blood and marked him in case he is recaptured.
Spotted on Apr 17, 2013
Submitted on Apr 17, 2013
14 Comments
thanks for sharing.
Scary!
Thanks Satyen!
Lovely and scary series :-)
Thanks Rieko!
I agree with KarenL. I wouldn't want to get too close to this snapping turtle... Nice shot though.
Haha yes David, we knew better than to put any body part too close to him! He kept his mouth open the whole time and was ready to bite if gotten the chance.
Can every still count to ten?
Thanks Karen, Antonio, and Phillip!
Awesome spotting you got there Ashley!
Wow.amazing,great spotting Ashley,scarry :-) congrats and thanks for sharing
Awesome! I wouldn't want to get too close to this guy though!
Thanks Lisa, we had actually caught 3 of them :) Two years ago at this site we caught a 60 lb one, by far the biggest I had seen in the wild although they get way bigger than that!
OK...terrific spotting....I am jealous now!