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Alligator Snapping Turtle
Macrochelys temminckii
32.72, -94.2316
Field Notes
Description:
Spotting #2,000 :) These are the largest freshwater turtle in the world, and this was by far the biggest I have seen. They are listed as threatened, and ones this size are not seen very often. He was right around 100 lbs, and we estimate him to be around 100 years old as well. I am in the last photo with him to show size a little better.
Habitat:
On a trip to east Texas with my professor and some other students, we were out to find as many herps as we could. We set traps for turtles, and definitely didn't expect something like this! Caught in a bald cypress swamp at a national wildlife refuge, and the video shows us releasing him back to continue to live another 100 years :)
Notes:
Here is another video of us trying to get him to bite down on a stick. You can tell he didn't even try, and instead of cracking the stick he ended up flattening it. Definitely don't want to get within striking range of him :)
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