ha! Make no mistake, LOTS of people eat them here in the south too. I consider myself an extremely adventurous eater- I’ve eaten countless things that most people would shudder at- especially wildlife things. But I’ve just never been able to bring myself to eat or even try turtle. I’ve been around snapping turtles all my life and they are always in mud, filthy, stinky, ill tempered, and so on. Nothing like pulling in a catfish jug line and finding a big angry snapper on it! ha Plus cleaning them is a huge, bloody, ordeal. You’re also right that they eat fish, ducks and other things we love. I’m not a fan. ALL that being said, that baby turtle is still very cute and I’d have probably saved it too! ha.
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I would not release that baby in my worst enemies pond. He is cute but so are baby alligators. Knowing what he is my reason would quickly over ride my temptation. Hand fisherman might “ask for it” but pity the one who pulls him from his hole in 50 years.
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As I write this ,I am finishing a large pot of turtle soup.
So felt the need to say something.
About 1/2 way through cleaning the meat from the shell…
I usually say … not doing that again … to much work !
Then as I eat the soup. … I usually say … man !
That’s good !
Need to catch more of those.
I don’t like them in my pond , as they eat my fish.
So I catch them and eat some.
One of the best flavored wild meats , hard to clean .
I once saw a big snapper on top of a big fallen oak log
A 2 ft diameter log laying on the ground . The log was on a high dry sandstone ridge . ~300ft elevation higher than the nearest creek, and several thousand feet of distance.
I guess it was moving to a different water shed ?
But why it would crawl up on that log was beyond me.
No easy way up onto it . But hay , why not.?
I have found myself in odder places 
Anyhow turtle soup is really good !
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Was out pruning trees with my gas powered pole saw yesterday, making tons of racket…walking down the fence line and this guy is just sitting there…Wish I could have gotten a better picture, the sun was at a bad angle…It’s a red-shouldered hawk…He just kept looking at me…
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Decades ago, growing up on the prairie near the Minnesota, South Dakota border, my brother and I made spending dollars catching and selling snappers to a local restaurant for their menu. Didn’t sell them all though - quite a few ended up on our table. Very good. Several different textures of meat on the turtle, ranging from white, and fish-like to very dark and gamey. Actually turning one into meat - that is, killing and dressing a turtle - is quite a task though. You really work for your meat.
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I have multiple scars from snapper bites. We caught them with a seine net in rivers and ponds. The biggest weighed in at about 25 lbs, and I was about 12 years old and probably weighed only 80lbs myself. It could be struggle to manhandle an mad-as-hell snapper from the net to a burlap bag. Sometimes they got a piece of me. They are not at all common where I live now, and I miss them. I wouldn’t consider taking them for sale or slaughter at this point. They are valuable parts of the ecosystem. I’d just like to see them again.
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the one i got out of the road was madder than hell! grabbed her by the tail. my wife was freaking out! its amazing how long their necks are. thats the only time ive ever touched a snapper.
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It’s a squirrel-harassment machine.
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Knowing there are already snappers in the pond, I’m not concerned about adding another. We haven’t lost any of our ducklings that I know of. One nighttime skinnydipper claimed something brushed against her menacingly and kept pecking at her, but that could have been lots of things and doesn’t fit a snapper’s modus operandi.
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There aren’t many squirrels for him to harass. I’ve taken care of that problem…
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If it is a squirrel eating machine, bring in more of them!
My wife just got footage of another set of twins today in our field. I just hope she doesn’t decide to use my tree nursery as her fawn nursery…
If its a snapper pond why not? I see your point.
I’ve been enjoying how the discussion here has been mixing together hawks and turtles.
Which ones do the squirrels need to watch out for?
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if it wasnt such a pain to get, id love to get a falconry license. birds of prey intrigue me. i found a young redtail on the side of a dirt road years ago. it was near able to fly but not quite. must have tried and couldnt get back to the nest. i walked the woods near where i found him. no sign of its parents. i brought him home and fed him some cut up chicken. he ate a whole thigh. he was pretty doclie and i was able to handle him with my welding gloves. called the game wardens. they brought him to the state game farm to grow him out and then release him. so wish i could have kept him.
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I’ve caught a hawk four times. A different year each time, so could have been the same bird. Only the fourth time did I think to have my wife photograph me with it before I released it. The hawk had come into the barn after chickens, and I was able to corner it.
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I was just getting ready to say “you can’t just post a photo of you holding a beautiful hawk like that and not tell us how you came to have it in hand!”. But now I completely understand- they come in my barn for chicken dinner too. In fact, as beautiful and majestic as they are, its very hard for me to warm up to these nice things people are saying about them because around my place they are public enemy # 1! No joke, I have lost 11 baby chickens in the last month, and I am certain its all been to hawks. I see them daily perched in my trees looking at the “menu”/ ha. Never saw one take a squirrel tho.
BTW, @steveb4 , I too have always thought it would be so awesome to have a hawk or falcon to hunt with, but I remember looking into it once and the legal requirements were insane. You had to have a sponsor/someone to apprentice under for 2 years, the holding requirements were hard to meet and required a large, expensive place, there were hard tests to take, constant inspections by wildlife officials which they’d almost always make you to do more things, and the fees and costs were extremely high. Sounds like you found the same thing. I’m not saying it shouldn’t be that way, but its more than 99% of people would undertake!
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We do not have a lot of problems with small rodents, though do have some bunnies.Right now these owls are having meeting season and our serenading the neighborhood at night
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Those are large owls!
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