Author Archives: Raul Nordstrom

Snapping Turtles are powerful, enduring and beautiful creatures that have been around for millions of years. Their evolution occurred before the majority of turtles and their rugged design hasn’t changed since. While the common snapping turtle has a wide distribution and strong numbers, in northern patches of the usa there can be merely 1-5 snappers per hectacre. Numbers in the southern United States are usually more promising and have around 65 snapping turtles per hectacre. The alligator snapping turtle, on the other hand, is considered threatened and is protected by law in several states. The snapping turtle in fact, can lay clutches of 20-50 eggs, but only about 133 of every 1,300 eggs survive to leave the nest. Out of the 133 hatchlings, just 1 will live to adulthood. Most eggs and hatchlings fall victim to predation within the first 36 months of life, if not before they hatch. What some groups do is protect the nests and capture hatchlings when they climb out. These hatchlings may then be raised for about 3 years and released to the wild or perhaps transported to the nearest body of water safely. Continue reading →