Baby Alligator Turtle found my pond :-(

[CountryEscape]

I was cleaning out my skimmer tonight, and there was this little bugger.

He's only 1.5" from nose to end of his shell. I'll put him back into my farm pond. Neighbors said they found 3 babies in their ditch in front of their house (across the road from where my pond is in my pasture), so I knew they were in the neighborhood. My baby slider that found my pond about a month ago gets to stay, but not this little guy. I just worry how many others got into the pond, too!
Anyone have any suggestions on how to keep them out? He had to climb a minimum of 6" to get up and over the wall, so I guess putting up a solid fence would be the only way. Probably easier to catch and release them instead.

 

[fishin4cars]

Wish you could send him this way, I'd love to try and raise one, (Not in the pond of course!) We had a musk turtle join the pond after tropical storm Lee, he's only been in the pond a week and already is coming up to feed on fish pellets with the fish and doesn't seem to be bothering anything so far. Not sure how to stop them from getting in the pond but at that size I doubt he will do much harm, larger ones though, probably will so keep a close eye out.

 

[baeya]

OH GEEZ!! You're lucky he is so small.......we drained our pond in June to make a repair and we found a 20" snapping turtle that we didn't know was in there!

 

[fishin4cars]

I'm pretty certain that it's not the little guy she is worried about, It's the possibility of a 20" one getting in, That's big enough to do some serious damage to aquatic live stock.

 

[baeya]

I think the big snapping turtle we had in our pond had been there a couple years cause we didn't see any new baby goldfish. Our pond was too green to ever notice either. Now the pond is getting so clear that we can see the bottom thanks to all the great advice from all the nice people here! We used to only see the Koi when we fed them.....OH LOOK THERE'S ONE!! OMG!! THERE'S ANOTHER ONE! We missed out on alot by having pea soup.

 

[CountryEscape]

Yes, I am most concerned what this little guy will grow up to be! I have no problem leaving this thru the winter, but I would fish him out come spring, and they will be very hard to locate on the bottom at this size. Larkin, if you are serious and would like him, I'd be happy to go to the local pet store and get bags, boxes, etc. to ship him to you. I suspect he would be an easy thing to ship. I still have him in a bowl in my bathroom sink. LOL Can't imagine why anyone would want an alligator snapper, though, unless you can keep him confined. They like to travel in this area, often walk miles to get to new ponds. See them on the road all the time.
The reason I fear them is I know they lay on the bottom, and I'm afraid to swim in farm ponds for fear of stepping on one. In my koi pond, I fear a large would might rip the liner trying to "dig down" for the winter. I will be getting my wet suit on with mask and snorkle before the year ends and also in the spring to search for any that I may find laying on the bottom.

 

[addy1]

Cute little turtle country, but you can keep it! Don't care to have my toes snapped at.

 

[CountryEscape]

Haha, me neither, Addy! They are also on my list of things I am afraid of! Used to love swimming in our farm pond when I was married, beautiful large pond, but when I learned that the snappers were not just floating on the top and swimming, I was scared to death and never went swimming again. My son now uses them as target practice when he finds them floating around. Sorry if that makes anyone mad. I know some people want all living creatures to live. There are certain things that I don't care to live on my property - bugs that sting, and snapping turtles. :redface:

 

[addy1]

If the bird is smart it will stay away, honey wants to shoot it, I don't, doing the protection method instead, fencing etc, others will come. I am a better shot, we have our 22 long barrel loaded with bird shot, makes a very nice noise. The pellets only go 200 feet so don't need to worry about someone getting shot by accident.

 

[Bruddaman]

Wow what a trip! Those buggers are definitely survivors.
I live in the middle of the city and found this big-boy digging himself a hole in my front yard. The nearest water is a 1/4 mile away!

 

[CountryEscape]

Wow, that's a big boy indeed! What did you do with him, Bruddaman?

 

[Bruddaman]

CountryEscape,
I invited over the neighborhood kids to take a look. They had never seen anything like it!
I managed to get him in my truck by scooping him into an empty litter-box and put a wet towel over him. He was hissing and snapping all the way.
I drove him down to a natural lake 3 miles away, where he should be quite happy. All without loosing a finger!
The only place he could have possibly come from, is a retention pond behind the local High school 1/4 mile away. Its amazing because it is frequently dry.
I suppose you will have to be diligent in removing them from your pond. I can't imagine how much they would need to eat to get that big!
Good Luck!

 

[addy1]

I bet he will be happy to, a nice big pond to wander and eat all it wants!

 

[CountryEscape]

Wow, and I was going to mention that you cannot keep an alligator snapper in anything that is less than 2.5 times as tall as him, as they will climb out, but I guess you figured that out! Good thing he didn't launch himself over the edge of your truck bed! Great move, getting him/her far away! Yes, I will have to watch for more babies to make it into my koi pond. Just like I'm hoping about herons, I hope they will learn to stay in the farm pond, rather than my koi pond.

 

[addy1]

Wow, and I was going to mention that you cannot keep an alligator snapper in anything that is less than 2.5 times as tall as him, as they will climb out, but I guess you figured that out! Good thing he didn't launch himself over the edge of your truck bed! Great move, getting him/her far away! Yes, I will have to watch for more babies to make it into my koi pond. Just like I'm hoping about herons, I hope they will learn to stay in the farm pond, rather than my koi pond.

get an alligator head, harry did not like seeing it in the pond.