Took this snapper to his new home along with the owls.
I’m not experienced with turtles and I thought he would be calm and boring, but he was really cool!
I made sure I got proper handling instructions when I picked him up, since I had watched videos before but never actually was hands-on with one.
In the car, he kept crawling around, and when I looked back, he had climbed up and was looking out the back watching the cars. I could see him track them with his head, so he did seem actively engaged in what was going on. I wonder what people behind us thought! 😆
When we got to the lake, he was all excited and a little more difficult to grab, but I got him securely and set him down at a nice spot.
He must have felt more confident back in nature, as he lunged at me and hissed, when he had been calm at the clinic. I took it as, “I’m going in this lake now, but not because you told me to!”
Mr Turtle shuffled in and gracefully swam away.
I hope you like your home! I released him on the kayak side of the lake as opposed to the more footpath and motorboat launch parts, so hopefully it will be peaceful and full of tasty food and a nice single lady turtle! Good luck, snappy!
My wife went with and she was very “meh” about the whole turtle thing, and even I thought it would be relatively dull, but he was a really rad reptile.
He won us both over when we saw he wasn’t just trying to get out but was actually taking in all the scenery. She said she’s totally down for the next turtle release!
It was so much like a dog looking out the window.
Right at this photo in the video, she tells me to smile and the turtle and I both did at the same time. My coworker got a kick out of that too.