Pine Barren Flora

manumuskin

manumuskin

Piney
Jul 20, 2003
8,674
2,586
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millville nj
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I picked Him up by the tail just long enough to get him over the railing and 40 ft to the swam pedge.He actually did not get nasty with me.Every snapper i have ever caught has tried to get me but this one.I have seen people grab them by the front of their carapace and pin their head down with their knuckles and then gran the back and carry them that way but I ain't that brave. Never been turtle bit but i seen a Boxer bite an ignoramus boy when i was 12 who was tormenting it with his finger.Laid him open. Snakes don't phase me but I"m a little more cautious with turtles.
 
manumuskin

manumuskin

Piney
Jul 20, 2003
8,674
2,586
60
millville nj
www.youtube.com
The direction this turtle was heading was up the shoulder,heading to Millville. There is no way i could pick this turtle up the way he did.It was at least 60 lbs.If he can pick up 60 lbs the way he did he must be stronger then me,especially his wrists.As far as bending over and dragging it my back won't allow that.If I bend over I have to pick up what I"m grabbing and stand up.If I bend over more then a few seconds it's painful.I had no shovel and no sheet and i mus admit his turtle was the calmest snapper I"ve ever seen along with the last one i caught.I think from now on I"ll just let em cross the road on their own.He was big enough to flip a car and when i set him down he certainly didn't act like i injured his back,he probably hurt mine worse then i hurt his.I"ve been picking snappers up like that my whole life and to this day when i set them down they walked off like they were just glad to be left alone. If I have to get closer to that head then the tail He can definitely cross Himself.
 
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PineBarrens Advocate

Explorer
Feb 1, 2016
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Camden County, NJ
manumuskin said:
The direction this turtle was heading was up the shoulder,heading to Millville. There is no way i could pick this turtle up the way he did.It was at least 60 lbs.If he can pick up 60 lbs the way he did he must be stronger then me,especially his wrists.As far as bending over and dragging it my back won't allow that.If I bend over I have to pick up what I"m grabbing and stand up.If I bend over more then a few seconds it's painful.I had no shovel and no sheet and i mus admit his turtle was the calmest snapper I"ve ever seen along with the last one i caught.I think from now on I"ll just let em cross the road on their own.He was big enough to flip a car and when i set him down he certainly didn't act like i injured his back,he probably hurt mine worse then i hurt his.I"ve been picking snappers up like that my whole life and to this day when i set them down they walked off like they were just glad to be left alone. If I have to get closer to that head then the tail He can definitely cross Himself.
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Yeah, a tricky business this helping turtles can be. Certainly don't want to injure yourself. Perhaps with a much lighter snapping turtle, the rear shell plate or drag method could be used. Last turtle I helped was a diamondback terrapin in strathmere...it repaid me by dropping five ticks on me. Thanks for helping.
 
manumuskin

manumuskin

Piney
Jul 20, 2003
8,674
2,586
60
millville nj
www.youtube.com
Diamondbacks can be quite aggressive as well but they don"t seem to be able to reach as far un der the plastron as a snapper.I"ve seen snappers that could lick their butt if they wanted too.Thats another reason why I don't grab them by the back of the plastron. I"ve never had a turtle walk away looking like it was injured.I know if he kept walking down 49 like He was it wouldn't be long before He was injured and someone else with him.My hand span from thumb to pinkie is 8.5 inches.His head was that big across.His tail at the base was as big around as my forearm which is probably about 13 inches.
 
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NJChileHead

Explorer
Dec 22, 2011
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I've held snappers using that technique but only smaller ones like Al said. The larger ones are very difficult. Plus they can get you with their claws pretty well when you reach behind their hind legs like that unless your hands are perfectly placed. The snapping turtle in that video was pretty docile. I've seen them rear up, spin towards you and be ready to go a few rounds when you merely approach them.

A few years ago I had a big snapper in Burlington County that I crossed and impromptu'd it by grabbing the carapace like in the video and pushing her forward across the road, keeping the plastron as flat as possible. I couldn't lift her properly and it was a busy road so it was either a scraped-up plastron or her (and probably me as well) getting smashed.

I haven't been bitten by a turtle either and I don't want to. I've never tangled with a terrapin but I imagine that they can inflict some real damage with a beak that crushes clams. I will say that the one that I want the least part of is a softshell. I picked up a very small one and it clawed and tried to bite like there was no tomorrow. I can only imagine what the big ones can do.
 
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manumuskin

manumuskin

Piney
Jul 20, 2003
8,674
2,586
60
millville nj
www.youtube.com
NJChileHead said:
I've held snappers using that technique but only smaller ones like Al said. The larger ones are very difficult. Plus they can get you with their claws pretty well when you reach behind their hind legs like that unless your hands are perfectly placed. The snapping turtle in that video was pretty docile. I've seen them rear up, spin towards you and be ready to go a few rounds when you merely approach them.

A few years ago I had a big snapper in Burlington County that I crossed and impromptu'd it by grabbing the carapace like in the video and pushing her forward across the road, keeping the plastron as flat as possible. I couldn't lift her properly and it was a busy road so it was either a scraped-up plastron or her (and probably me as well) getting smashed.

I haven't been bitten by a turtle either and I don't want to. I've never tangled with a terrapin but I imagine that they can inflict some real damage with a beak that crushes clams. I will say that the one that I want the least part of is a softshell. I picked up a very small one and it clawed and tried to bite like there was no tomorrow. I can only imagine what the big ones can do.
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Mark I have read online that in the 80's the state introduced Softshell turtles into the Maurice River.I have yet to see one.I have seen them when I lived in Florida but never got my hands on one.I do hear as you say they can be quite testy and are supposed to have an even longer reach then a snapper.
 
manumuskin

manumuskin

Piney
Jul 20, 2003
8,674
2,586
60
millville nj
www.youtube.com
I don't really believe they have the pressure to sever fingers like I"ve heard.I"ve drug them by letting them bite a stick and then dragging them out of the road for turtles that were spinning too quick for me to grab their tails and they never have snapped a tick but still as sharp as their jaws are I can see em taking you down to the bone quite easy.
 
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bobpbx

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,677
4,851
Pines; Bamber area
It's June! Really.

redbase.JPG
viscosum.JPG
pitcher pair.JPG
pipes.JPG
moss man.JPG
lyonia.JPG
lysim.JPG
livida.JPG
 
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Teegate

Teegate

Administrator
Site Administrator
Sep 17, 2002
25,967
8,712
Some of the photos in the first group are not showing up with Safari. I have to open them individually in a separate window. I clicked on EDIT to look the post over and all looks well. Odd!


photo.jpg
 
bobpbx

bobpbx

Piney
Staff member
Oct 25, 2002
14,677
4,851
Pines; Bamber area
manumuskin said:
Bob, That sign just below the Arethusa photo,Was it on a straight and narrow path or on a wide road possibly headed toward Destruction?
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:)

No matter what road you travel on, be it crooked and corrupt, or a wide one lined with fortune and fame, if you accept Jesus Christ as your savior from sin, you will spend eternity in Heaven. I know, for Jesus told me so.
 
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manumuskin

manumuskin

Piney
Jul 20, 2003
8,674
2,586
60
millville nj
www.youtube.com
bobpbx said:
:)

No matter what road you travel on, be it crooked and corrupt, or a wide one lined with fortune and fame, if you accept Jesus Christ as your savior from sin, you will spend eternity in Heaven. I know, for Jesus told me so.
Click to expand...
I think we all travel "Off Trail" occasionally. Once in awhile a Divine Foot may be needed to nudge us back on before the ticks of this world wind up in a spot that make us scream "Hell Fire and Damnation'!
Is that the sirens of the "Off Topic " police I hear in the background:)
 
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