THE TENNESSEAN (Nashville, Tennessee) 30 December 04 Crunch one turtle with a snap (Charles Searcy)
Photo at URL below: Crunch, a 150-plus year old, 165-pound alligator snapping turtle, is out of water as owner Rusty Reed gives him a health check. Reed and Crunch will be at the Nashville Boat and Sport Show on Jan. 12-15. (Rusty Reed / Blackwater Turtle Refuge)
It would be a natural for former University of Tennessee sportscaster John Ward.
It would also be a grand way to open the 19th Nashville Boat and Sport Show.
The call would echo across the Nashville Convention Center like the shot that was heard around the world:
''It's Crunch time in Tennessee,'' Ward could say.
Crunch, in this instance, is the 165-pound, 9-foot long and 150-plus year old alligator snapping turtle owned by Rusty Reed of Indianapolis.
Crunch comes by his name naturally because he has the ability to snap 2-inch PVC pipe without batting an eye.
''He's not destructive,'' Reed says of arguably the oldest snapping turtle alive. ''He has done it a couple of times in his aquarium on a trip but it's not that often.''
Reed says his pet, once headed for the slaughterhouse, eats once every three or four days and then is fed carp, catfish and occasionally crawdads.
''He'll take a head of a carp and crunch it like you would a cracker,'' Reed said. ''Catfish heads are no different. Just a matter of a biting it.''
But the real treat, which Crunch gets only on special occasions, is clams.
''He really loves clams and crushes them with ease,'' Reed added. The problem is, he eats everything and that causes a digestive problem.
Stuffing his mouth is common practice. A ''bite'' is about the size of a softball.
''Just in case you forget and let him get a hand,'' Reed said, ''he'll crush it like a grape.''
Crunch has a head for business, also, measuring 9˝ inches wide. And when reaching for food or air, he can extend his neck from its shell 3 feet.
In three years, since Reed began his educational tour, he and Crunch have traveled in eight states, been on CNN and written about by major wire services. Crunch travels in a trailer that keeps the inside at a constant 75-78 degrees. His on-the-road home, the trailer, weighs 13,000 pounds when it's loaded.
His show centers on educating the public about the alligator snapping turtles because at one point they were almost extinct from over hunting and netting.
Reed, for instance, bought Crunch from a former trapper who had a change of heart and began a campaign to stop the process.
''Bought him by the pound 15 years ago,'' Reed said. ''Just as he was headed for slaughter. Now he's a big part of my life and on display to help save the others.''
Most of the alligator snapping turtles are in the southern part of the country and nine of those states have laws banning the catching, trapping, hunting or buying/selling of them.
''It used to be common practice for people to trap them for the meat and not have any regulations to hold them to,'' Reed said.
''They're protected now and the populations are rebuilding.''
Reed said several states have had to make exceptions to regulations to allow him to take Crunch in for the educational programs.
''Our goal is to create a lasting memory and we do that by exhibiting a live, prehistoric-looking creature and presenting educationally oriented entertainment,'' Reed said.
''People are amazed by Crunch. They are in awe by his size, his look and the facts they are told while they view him.''
Crunch one turtle with a snap