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Okay, he's not really mine but I found him in my pond tonight. He looks pretty young and I've seen the big Momma that looks like a prehistoric beastie. I think it's Momma anyway because I think he's a snapping turtle. Look how long his tail is in the belly shot - very cool and very bumpy back edge.

He had a lot of mud stuck to him so I think he may have recently emerged from a hole somewhere - I rubbed the mud on the back but it was really caked on and would only come off if I used my nail. I usually see Eastern Painted Turtles this tiny and their hatching occurs about June 18th so this little guy has me stumped. I hope he forgets this pond when he get older - the goldfish would make a nice lunch!

looks like an Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii)

if it is one, it's gonna be a real brute and quite dangerous as well

these are not protected by law? you can catch them just like that?

I think it's more likely a common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) than Macrochelys, since you don't get Macrochelys that far north.

That is a cute little visitor to your pond...I agree , better now than when grown up.

Birger

Great find- all my pond's produced this year is a single frog, and lots of mosquitoes/midges!

Sidguppy wrote:

looks like an Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys temminckii)

if it is one, it's gonna be a real brute and quite dangerous as well

these are not protected by law? you can catch them just like that?

Hi Sidguppy,
I think Silurus has the right turtle. This little fellow was easy to catch - it was sitting on the edge of my pond when I went out to feed the fish. I put him back after I took the pics. There's a swampy/stream behind my house that hits a large river system on either end so he will be fine. The mother lives somewhere in that stream, I've only seen her a few times and yes she is HUGE and would be nasty if you got near her. She has the same spiky carapice (?) except that she also has large bumps/spikes on the very back part extending in a line from the top. Never got any pictures, just stood and watched her. In awe.

I'm going to scoop the pond bottom out before freeze up and if there's any turtles, I'll walk them back to the stream, it's only 100 metres farther down the hill. I once had the pond freeze over and kill off a bunch of frogs. That won't be happening again, not to turtles either. It was pretty heartbreaking.

I think it's more likely a common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) than Macrochelys, since you don't get Macrochelys that far north.

natural distribution, no; but these things turn up everywhere
they're sold as pets (!).

people buy a tiny monster and once it's huge and bad tempered, ate the cat and made the owner loose a finger or two; they toss it in the local waters and there you go.....

northern distribution!
they are even found in the Netherlands, causing a hazard on toes of recreating swimmers and demolishing the already exote-rich 'wildlife' we have here

and yes, they ARE tough enough to survive a 3 month snow Dutch winter
this spring several snappers were caught.
both Alligator type and regular, in our local waterways

he is tough looking!

sidguppy wrote: and yes, they ARE tough enough to survive a 3 month snow Dutch winter

I've not seen any reports of snapping turtles here in Sweden (I've never even seen any for sale, they don't make good pets, obviously) but every winter there are reports of people finding Red Eared Sliders under the ice of various lakes and rivers. They survive our harsh winters, but our summers are too short and cold for them to reproduce. I suspect the same is true of snapping turtles in Holland.

He is a neet little guy and is easy to keep for a while .
I have kept a number of babys ,snappers, sliders and soft shells. The worst of the problems is the mess.In order to release your little friend at a latter date he will have to be fed like he is in the wild and that is messy. He will up root any thing in the tank and eat your other fish .sliders are the easyest to keep because of the large amount of vegys they eat. NOTE in this country the carry salomenla so handle with care.
good luck

crkinney wrote:

....In order to release your little friend at a latter date he will have to be fed like he is in the wild and that is messy. He will up root any thing in the tank and eat your other fish .sliders are the easyest to keep because of the large amount of vegys they eat....

I only took him from the pond side to get a picture to share. Seems like lots of people here like turtles.
He went right back to where I found him after the picture.

I've seem the Momma and she has one of those beaks that look like talons from a great horned owl or raptor - slice your wrist off in one shot - not a pet for me I don't know how protected they are here but I think it's best for these guys to just take the picture and put him back.

NOTE in this country the carry salomenla so handle with care.

I've heard something like that too, best to leave him alone.

Amazing critter though - glad I saw him at this size. Wouldn't really want to deal with him if he was larger but at least if I ever go out to the pond and notice the fish are all gone, I'll have an idea of who may have visited.

Good choice .
When they get to about 20lbs. the eat real good if they don't eat you frist