Saving a Snapping Turtle

I was notified yesterday by a local supporter that a work crew with heavy machinery was digging out a ditch in their neighborhood that was a commonly known habitat for fish and turtles. They found one baby snapping turtle that had its skull crushed by the machinery and they presumed was dead, and another larger juvenile snapping turtle that had disappeared into the muddy water. With the help of their family, we saved a couple dozen fish. But after being there for about an hour, I was about ready to call it quits for the day, and assumed I wasn't going to find this snapping turtle they saw. Just as I was about to step out of the ditch, I reached down next to my boot and pulled this little snapper up 🙂 He had been next to my boot in reaching distance of where I had been scooping fish with a net in that spot for about 20 minutes. All the fish had been placed in a bucket and were immediately released at the private lake about a block away. There were catfish, carp, perch, and even a bass.

The baby turtle that had been crushed was in fact still alive and responsive, but critically injured with a fractured skull and lower jaw. He's not likely to be able to survive such injuries though. The larger juvenile has a split in his upper jaw that runs into his sinus cavity, and his sinuses need to be flushed out to determine if it's an old or fresh injury from the excavation machinery, and what difficulty it may give him when released. It could cause water and mud to get directly into his nasal and sinus cavities and predispose him to recurring infections, or prevent him from breathing through his nose when he surfaces for air, which also predisposes him to aspirating water and getting respiratory infections, because in deeper water he wouldn't be able to easily raise his entire mouth out of the water to open it and breathe. Some water would flow in from the sides of his mouth at the same time he was trying to breathe.

Please consider contributing, like the mere dozen or so loyal supporters do every month, who have kept this rescue going for several years. Many people follow, but very few contribute, and this rescue is funded entirely on donations, and what comes directly from my own pocket. There are no government grants. No corporate sponsors. Just me, and the donors who believe that these animals need help.

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