Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I was wondering the best way to catch a snapping turtle. I want to photograph them up close, and in their native habitat. I also wanted to take pictures of hatching turtles. Does anyone have any information on how to catch them saftley, and how to locate nest sites. People tell me to use a hook, but i do not want to injure the turtle. Thank you,
Kris

try luring them close with dough balls, chicken bits, and chopped fish. you dont have to catch them to get good photos. just lure them close, you'll be suprised how close they come. also, this works better at night with a lantern, so break out the flash

Sounds good, are they mostly nocturnal, or should i try this at dusk, also, is this a good time of year to do it, or should i wait longer

Thanks,
KRis

this is a great time, actually. many are actively seeking out food and in some areas, mates. you should have no trouble finding them

first off this is my first to type on theis forum in about a year
I use a turtle trap. I actually bought this at a co op store. It is safe for the turtles but getting them out is not so safe for you. I am currently trying to catch a few adult females for my breeding ( And my male is I guess horny because he sometimes trys to mate with one of my larger slider turtles in his pond) so far I hve only caught a juvenile un sexable but hopefully before laying season ends I'll have a beutyful large female. The trap has an oppenning where the turtl goes in( this is located at the front) and it goes through some dooors that only open one way and then it is trapped. I have caight many other types of tutles also..

Justin

My cousins (and I -- I'll admit it) have caught and eaten snappers for the last forty years by the simple method of lying down in the water and feeling for them under overhanging banks, muskrat burrows, logjams, etc. [This is in Wisconsin, where we have no copperheads or cottonmouths; dunno if I'd try it in the South.] Literally hundreds of trips and thousands of turtles over the years, and only once was someone bitten by a snapper IN THE WATER, and that was because my Uncle Ted (73 at the time) was getting too stiff to hunt turtles, so he was poking for them with a silage fork. When Cousin Fritz grabbed the one Ted found, it was understandably upset. Once they've been pulled out they get nasty, but not underwater. [We'd pull by grabbing the shell, rear legs, or tail. Remember, these were being gathered to eat, so the hunters were not as gentle as you'd be for a catch-and-release photo op.] The first time I was taken along, I had to see it done before I was convinced my cousins were not pulling a cruel trick on me. The first one I caught, I made first contact by touching him with my thumb under his chin, middle finger on top of his head, and index finger in his mouth. He never bit down! In the hope of stopping at least some of the abuse I'm gonna get, I'll say that these were all farm boys, who were used to harvesting wild game, and were very careful not to overhunt an area. Much as I hate the cruelty and sensationalism of rattlesnake roundups, it's hard to show solid evidence that they are reducing the population, any more than deer hunting does. Hunting *will* select out the older, larger, more genetically desirable specimens. Perhaps that's enough reason to oppose it. Anyway, we have legal closed seasons and bag limits on snappers now, so Wisconsin turtle hunting is officially considered to be not an absolute evil.
MiserMike

Heck I've eaten snapper too. I didn't like it much, but it might have just been the place. I also used to catch them, but just for fun. Something impressive about hauling up a huge snapper. Fishing and hunting we did plenty of just never had the urge to cook up snapper.