LARGE turtle in Wetlands pond across from Harris Teeter!

Anyone else seen the large turtle in the pond across from Harris Teeter? It must be roughly 3ft long! We've walked this pond for years and we've always seen the normal sized box turtles (10" to 12") swimming around....never this one. He's pretty tame & gets along well with the other turtles & ducks/geese. Pretty cool.

 

there are actually a few of them last summer there were often 2 by the dock where everyone feeds the ducks. i've sadly seen them trying to cross demott, too! they are snapping turtles and have long tails. not sure that i'd want to get too close to it!

 

I saw one crossing Demott last year also...a very big snapping turtle!

 

A 3ft snapping turtle can defiitely take off your fingers. People don't realize how long their necks are. They can reach their necks out around 9 inches when they are that big.

http://images.search.yahoo.com/imag...&sigr=135njq0gc&sigi=129p34lr0&sigb=134d5d4ma

 

Hatchling snapping turtles are about the size of a quarter. Adult female snapping turtles usually measure from 9.5 to 14.5 inches (mean carapace length is 11 inches ). Adult males usually range from 9.5 to15.5 inches (mean carapace length is 13.3 inches ). A 10-year-old individual measures about 7 inches and a 25-year-old individual about 11 inches. Growth rates in northern populations are slower and body sizes larger than in southern populations. The largest snapping turtle ever recorded was 18.5 in (carapace length). Weights of 35 to 45 pounds are reached (8 to 14 inch individuals). The heaviest snapping turtle ever caught in the wild weighed 68 lbs. The older snapping turtles get, the slower they grow, so the biggest individuals are possibly over 100 years old. It is possible to determine from the rings on the shell how old a snapping turtle is. The oldest observed age for snapping turtles so far was over 75 years, while the oldest age based on ring counts was 79. Since growth continues throughout life, very old individuals can conceivably grow very large.

http://www.tortoisetrust.org/articles/snappers.htm

 

Yea that large snapping turtle has learned to eat bread. She loves it and will hang out at the end of the dock now all the time to get the bread from the birds, and other turtles. I say "she" because last summer there were hatch-lings all over the area. We played with one of the babies that had been on the path (to educate my son) and then we released him into the water.

Yea I would say that that large one that we saw last year was a good 1.5 feet in diameter and around 25 pounds (guess). I was hoping to see her again this year and it looks like she made another season.... lets hope the cars do not get them.

 

cool, will have to check them out tonight... we haven't been since last year!

 

I went there this afternoon and only saw a small turtle. I did see some beautiful Tree Swallows nesting in one of the boxes.

 

The kids have seen the "Dinosaurs" often.

 

Are they the same as barn swallows? I use to see so many in the area...

 

They are a different coloring on the chest. This comes from my ever handy bird book pictures and descriptions. The Tree Swallow has a bright white chest, wheras the Barn Swallow has a cinnamon chest. The Tree Swallow will nest in the same type boxes as bluebirds (another competitor) but the Barn Swallow will make mud nests, very often in barns.

 

Excellent pictures showing the difference between the two birds - thanks!

 

I took this last August in my cell camera. It's a big sucker!

 

Any plans to expand or make more of a parking lot there?

 

I am still waiting for the once mentioned sidewalk along Demmott from Waxpool to the pond.

 

does anyone know what will happen with this park now that van metre has gifted the property to george mason?

 

No.

 

Nothing. It will remain as part of Van Metre's Commercial Association.

 

Don't hold your breath. Now that George Mason owns it, I wouldn't expect to see it until a campus is built. And no one knows when that might be.