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A Friend told me a scary story recently.
She has two very large dogs, one being a big Standard Poodle. She took them to walk at a lake near Ridgeway, here in Colorado. The site was marked "NO SWIMMING" and was a very pleasant alpine excursion.

She noticed what appeared to be a very large log in the lake, and, as her poodle cannot read, swam out to see it. She looked away for a moment to return her gaze on an empty, calm, lake. No Log, No Dog. Several second later, in the middle, her dog lunged out of the water "Screaming" she said. If one has ever heard a dog in serious distress, as been hit by a car, one can imagine.

She rushed out to meet her dog as it surfaced again, yelping.
upon helping the dog out, she saw a threatening mass attached to the dog's neck, drowning it.

Note: This dog was powerful enough to knock me over when I met it, being about the same weight.

An enormous turtle had it's beak clasped around the dog's collar. Being close to the shore and my friend, the turtle let go. It left the metal ring of the collar pulled perfectly strait, and left the Poodle so terrified that it did not sleep for several days.

Now, how on bloody earth could a turtle have the power to pull a dog down of that size to try to drown it!? I can imagine that other smaller dogs have perished to feed it in its size. Imagine, if you will, a child, whom needn't be young to be weaker than this dog, venturing there.

Not only did I not realize that Snappers are so dangerous, did I not know that they occurred in Colorado. We rarely have turtles at all here, and never have I heard of such a thing in my experiences on the mountains.

Do Common Snapping turtles grow large enough, or are alligator snapping turtles tough enough to withstand the cold?

Phal

For the certain few of you: My friend is no liar, most assuredly, she has no need nor imagination to fabricate such a story.

>>A Friend told me a scary story recently.
>>She has two very large dogs, one being a big Standard Poodle. She took them to walk at a lake near Ridgeway, here in Colorado. The site was marked "NO SWIMMING" and was a very pleasant alpine excursion.
>>
>>She noticed what appeared to be a very large log in the lake, and, as her poodle cannot read, swam out to see it. She looked away for a moment to return her gaze on an empty, calm, lake. No Log, No Dog. Several second later, in the middle, her dog lunged out of the water "Screaming" she said. If one has ever heard a dog in serious distress, as been hit by a car, one can imagine.
>>
>>She rushed out to meet her dog as it surfaced again, yelping.
>>upon helping the dog out, she saw a threatening mass attached to the dog's neck, drowning it.
>>
>>Note: This dog was powerful enough to knock me over when I met it, being about the same weight.
>>
>>An enormous turtle had it's beak clasped around the dog's collar. Being close to the shore and my friend, the turtle let go. It left the metal ring of the collar pulled perfectly strait, and left the Poodle so terrified that it did not sleep for several days.
>>
>>Now, how on bloody earth could a turtle have the power to pull a dog down of that size to try to drown it!? I can imagine that other smaller dogs have perished to feed it in its size. Imagine, if you will, a child, whom needn't be young to be weaker than this dog, venturing there.
>>
>>Not only did I not realize that Snappers are so dangerous, did I not know that they occurred in Colorado. We rarely have turtles at all here, and never have I heard of such a thing in my experiences on the mountains.
>>
>>Do Common Snapping turtles grow large enough, or are alligator snapping turtles tough enough to withstand the cold?
>>
>>Phal
>>
>>For the certain few of you: My friend is no liar, most assuredly, she has no need nor imagination to fabricate such a story.
-----
1.3.0 Leopard Geckos
2 Blizzard females, pair of albino trempors male is tangerine
Turtles
1.0.0 Common snapping turtle
0.1.0 Belize slider
0.1.0 Egyptian tortoise
2 hatchlings on the way a blacknobbed sawback and a commonmusk

I have a strong defense in her honesty. For your argument, know that she has my utmost belief. Before I shrug you off as you did me, I would like to hear what you think.

Was the dog more of a weak swimmer than I imagine?
Was the turtle just a log that in some fashion caught on the dog's collar?
Was it something other that a turtle?
What would pull down a dog?
I've heard of local beavers attacking dogs in territory; my uncle having had a dog that was nearly drowned by a raccoon in mush the same way.
Was there a fishing line hooked to the collar, followed by a large clump of pond scum?
What then?

I hope that my semi-dramatic description as a writer did not kindle you skepticism.

.

This was probably a hatchling or extremely young juvenile of the Cosmic Turtle (not to be confused with the Star Tortoise, a Madagascan species). Well-known in classical antiquity as the great turtle on whose back the (flat) Earth rests, the most detailed modern accounts can be found in the works of Terry Pratchett. The astrochelone which holds up the Discworld is named Great A'tuin, and does not directly support the world. Instead, he has four elephants on his back, who literally have the weight of the world on their shoulders. Somewhat larger than the specimen your friend encountered are the seagoing Island Beasts, feared by medieval sailors. Large enough to be mistaken for an island and long-lived enough to nap on the ocean's surface for sufficient time that trees grow on its back, when sailors came ashore and built fires on its back the Island Beast would wake and submerge, leaving them to drown. Just as salmonid species enter protected fresh water streams to spawn, providing their young with a small, protected habitat, I theorize your friend's dog was a first, fumbling attempt to feed by a new-hatched Cosmic Turtle. She's fortunate that its predatory skills were so poorly developed.
MiserMike