[Sasakwa]

My Ole Daddy use to say that it would rain small fish and I always knew he was kidding...but after Saturday night I'm not sure...We got 4.2 inches of rain sometime early Sunday morning...Yesterday afternoon I noticed a baby logger head turtle crawling in front of the barn...I rescued him and carried him down to a pond about 200 yards from the house...later on I found 2 more on the patio....then I found a couple in the driveway...finally I had my wife fetch the camera to take a picture of a couple in the front lawn and just while we were taking the pictures we found two more...I continued to find baby turtles until it was too dark...I was also getting tired of walking down to the pond...but anyway...I think we found between 15 and 20 turtles in about an hour...Now I'm not sure my Daddy was kidding...Yall have a wonderful day and enjoy the dove shooting...Wish I could join yawl....Sasakwa

 

[Gauge]

Ray, arn't those snapping turtles?

Nice pics too.

 

[Sasakwa]

Ray, arn't those snapping turtles?

Nice pics too.

Yea Gauge, I think they would be called snapping turtles..When I was a kid we called them Logger heads...probably just another Sasakwa thing..I know they will take a finger off when they get big...They seem to be getting fewer and fewer and so I was trying to find all I could, but my yard is probably 3 acres and I found turtles in nearly every corner...I have no idea where they came from but just to crawl from the nearest non-mowed area was a good 100 yards in some spots...the little fellows were pretty soft and so I figure they had just hatched..

 

[Gauge]

Ya, Logger heads are sea turtles.
We get them snappers around here too during different times of the year.
Cool looking little guys.

 

[ibokie]

We always called them loggerheads also.I have had them try to eat fish off of my stringer while pond fishing.

 

[Farmboy]

Those things are like coyotes in a pond. They eat up all the good stuff! Sure wish I could find em crawlin through my yard! Stop the problem before it starts! ;D

 

[dennishoddy]

Those snappers are quite tasty too. An old retired pipeline welder that lives not too far from me set out traps for them, and put on some "goat ropings" where we would butcher a goat, and serve turtle as a side. (lots of adult beverages as well) For the "newbies" they were told that the turtle meat was red snapper from the gulf, and it does kind of look like it. For those that just flat refused to eat a "stinking goat" and "I don't do fish" would be offered some BBQ'd pork ribs.(actually goat ribs) and would eat them without a complaint ;D It was always a big joke among the insiders ;D ;D Sadly Ol' Bill was found sitting in his recliner with a ham sandwich in one hand, and a charter+7 in the other. :'(
Stone cold :'(

 

[dennishoddy]

After a little research:
In Okla, the alligator snapping turtle is protected as an endangered specie.
Snapping turtles are freshwater turtles that live in the Americas. There are three species: the Alligator, Common, and Florida Snapping Turtles. The Alligator snapping turtle is the largest of the North American freshwater turtles.
I don't know which specie that Sasakwa has raining down on his yard, as I'm nowhere a reptile biologist.

I have heard of some "toad strangler" rains. ??? ???
Anybody know how a toad strangles itself during a rain? ?????

 

[dennishoddy]

Is it more or less than a "gully washer"
I'm so confused :-[ :-[

 

[Sasakwa]

Yea, these would be called the common snapper...I looked it up also...at one time I would have stopped the problem also...but it seems to me that I see very few of the big matured snappers anymore...maybe I'm just getting old but the last few years I kind of hate to see a big snapper laying dead on the road where someone ran over him...It takes a lot of years for one to get that old..NOW...Dennis..I too have heard of the toad strangler rains...The way I figure it the dumb frog would have to look straight up and hold his mouth open....and you know what....with enough beverages of choice I'm thinking we could probably find one..a good ice chest and the little rhino.....hell...Lets start looking...Yawl have a wonderful day no matter where you are...even if you can't shoot something at least we can think about it.......Sasakwa