# Alligator Snapping Turtle



## DSGB (Apr 24, 2007)

We were enjoying a boat ride on Saturday with my parents when I spotted this big ol' girl beached on the bank. It's a shame anyone would want to kill an animal just for the heck of it. She most likely was there to lay eggs.












Here's one with my hat for size reference.






Alligator Snapping turtles are protected in both Georgia and Alabama. This one happened to be in Alabama. I really want to get the shell from this "dinosaur" but I'm not sure if that will be possible. Instead of leaving it on the bank where it was, I looped a rope around it's head and drug it up in the woods. I'm going to talk with my uncle who is a federal game warden, and works in that county, and see if there is any way I could keep the shell.


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## cardfan (Apr 24, 2007)

did she eat a Dawg's fan?


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## DSGB (Apr 24, 2007)

gatrapper said:


> How did you know someone killed it?



I don't really know for sure if someone did. I assume that they did because, if you look at the second pic, front of the shell, there was a hole in the shell. The blood had dried, but I assume it was a bullet hole.


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## Hoss (Apr 24, 2007)

Thanks for sharing your photos.  Too bad she is dead.

Hoss


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## BuckinFish (Apr 24, 2007)

you can bury the body and keep the shell overground, thats what i have been told in the past


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## DRB1313 (Apr 24, 2007)

Man! That's a monster. Thanks for sharing the pics.


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## shaggybill (Apr 24, 2007)

Man, what a shame and what a waste of a great critter. They may be mean if you mess with them, but they sure are neat. That's a big one too. Some people just have to shoot everything, I guess. I would never call any such person an "outdoorsman."


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## FERAL ONE (Apr 24, 2007)

dgsb i saw a monster last year by uchee creek on benning. i was in awe!!! it was the first and only i have ever seen that is a shame. probably same dirtbags that shoot gators for no reason. makes ya sick to think about it.


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## bclark71 (Apr 24, 2007)

cool pic too bad though


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## DSGB (Apr 25, 2007)

FERAL ONE said:


> dgsb i saw a monster last year by uchee creek on benning. i was in awe!!! it was the first and only i have ever seen that is a shame. probably same dirtbags that shoot gators for no reason. makes ya sick to think about it.



Yeah, we found two dead gators in the same stretch of water last year. 
This was in Briar Creek.


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## rip18 (Apr 25, 2007)

Thanks for sharing the pictures.  It is a shame the lowlifes have to do stuff like that!!!  Somebody shot the street signs off of our county road, & I thought that was bad, but shooting an old fellow like that is worse!  Sad thing is they both give real hunters a bad name!


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## bigswamp (Apr 25, 2007)

Yep, hate to see that!  It sure was a good one.


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## Nicodemus (Apr 26, 2007)

No tellin` how old that gator snapper was. That`s a shame.


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## DSGB (Jun 19, 2007)

I went and got the shell on Saturday. All of the meat and skin was gone and it didn't smell as bad. It still smells a little, though. 
The scutes were all coming off, so I went ahead and removed them and cleaned them up a bit. There are years of caked on red clay on them.
The inner shell or bone was the part that still smells. I'm gonna let it sit out in the sun to "cure" for a while. Then I'll put all the scutes back on there (it's gonna be like a big puzzle) and glue them, then cover it with polyurethane or something.


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## rip18 (Jun 19, 2007)

I'm glad you are going to all the trouble to preserve her "parts".


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## DaGris (Jun 19, 2007)

well at least it didnt die for nothing.


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## leo (Jun 20, 2007)

*That's neat DSGB*

neat restoration project ahead, be sure and post the progress for us


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## bestbucks (Jun 22, 2007)

This species is on the endangered list. The females are sexually mature between 11 and 13 yrs. of age. They generally only come on land to nest. Ignorance in my opinion is the leading cause for exploiting  wildlife in this country. Maybe in the schools if they taught a little less Algebra and more about nature, mister turtle might have been spared that bullet.


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## crackerdave (Jun 22, 2007)

You are mighty right,bestbucks.There is not much taught in the schools that's of any practical use.If there was,that turtle might still be alive.


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