My neighbor got wind that I was heading out for an evening of fishing, when he dropped by my house to make a strange request. He wanted to know if I would trap, and deliver to him, an Alligator Snapping turtle. At first, I thought he was cracking wise about my plans that evening until he described what he had planned for the critter. It more than piqued my interest. It turned out that my neighbor was a gourmet chef and needed wild game to list on the menu of a feast he was planning so, I agreed to capture and bring to him alive an Alligator Snapping Turtle. If I had been blessed with the ability of foresight, I would have been forewarned but hey, we’re allowed a degree of stupidity when we’re young and dumb "right?", provided the lapse in mental acuity does not kill us in the process!
I knew where to find them. I just never gave much thought to capturing one and escourting it back to my home for "dinner". My encounters with the Alligator Snapper, previous to that evening, were trying to keep them from ripping big chunks of flesh out of the prize fish I put on my stringers. If you have ever pulled up your stringer of fish to find a fist sized chunk of meat missing from your prize catch, you know exactly what I am talking about but, I promised to catch one and bring it home, “alive”.
Alligator Snappers have a limited range compared to its cousin the Common Snapping turtle. Alligator Snappers are found in drainage ditches, canals, rivers, and lakes of the southern United States from northern Florida to eastern Texas ranging up the Midwest to southern Wisconsin residing in the Mississippi river and her tributaries.
Alligator Snapping Turtles can be distinguished from the Common Snapping Turtle by the three distinct rows of spikes and raised plates on the shell. They can live to be 50 to 100 years old. Males average 26 inches in shell length and weigh about 175 pounds, although they have been known to exceed 220 pounds. The much smaller females top out at around 50 pounds
It is claimed that Alligator Snapping turtles possess the second strongest bite force of any animal however, testing has proven that it is about the same level as humans (I wonder who volunteered for that bite). You must remember though that the armament of a snapping turtles' beak is more primitive and considerably more vicious than our teeth and they can shear through small bone (fingers). These turtles must be handled with extreme care. There are tales, lore, etc., that claim, “If a snapping turtle clamps his jaws locked on an object, he will not release the bite until the sun goes down”. I've never tested this theory however, it was a common practice to get the snapper to bite down on a stick, lift the snapper up in the air to extend the neck, then whack his head off with a sharp ax, don't miss and hit your partner though!
I arrived at the creek just as the sun was starting to set and as the night stalkers were beginning their nocturnal prowls. The stretch of river I chose for tonight's hunt was the headwaters of the Kaskaskia River, one of Central Illinois' best fisheries, and its width is barely 15 feet wide but, depending on the time of the year, several species of fish and animal can be harvested there; Largemouth Bass, Bullhead Catfish, Channel Catfish, Flathead Catfish, Walleye and of course, Alligator Snapping turtles are all on the menu. On that particular night, Snappers and Bullheads reigned supreme.
I elected to fish from the bridge that night because there are very few spots along the creek that are flat enough to stand on, frankly speaking, there's no bank to speak of. From the road bed of the bridge to the surface of the stream, I estimated the drop to be approximately 10 feet, and since I kept my reels spooled with a minimum of 10 lb. test, I should do well up to a 20 lb. Snapping turtle. If I hook into a larger one, I might have trouble getting him up the bank to the bridge. I used a large treble hook and just in case one hook point hit something hard, there were two more sharp hooks to increase the odds. Believe it or not, as hard and as boney as the mouth is, there is still enough flesh to hook into and to hold the Snapping Turtle through violent struggling. The rod I used was custom built by me using parts that I ordered from the fishing and hunting mail order catalogs. I built several fishing rods and each one was designed for a specific task and each one was designed not to fail when I counted on it the most, there is nothing so disappointing as to swing your rod to set the hook and the darn thing breaks in two.
There was no need to cast the bait. I loaded up the treble with as much chicken liver as I could wrap onto the hooks. The key word there is to "wrap" the liver around the hooks in an effort to make the liver hold as long as possible. If the liver slides away from the hooks when the snapper picks up the bait, all that you will have done is provide dinner to a hungry brood. Standing at mid bridge looking down on the stream, I lowered the bait by releasing line until the bait was about one foot above the surface of the water. I swung the bait in an increasing arc until it was near the spot I wanted to hit and then I let the reel free-spool and the bait plopped into position. Then it was time to wait.
The pick-up was very subtle, I have yet to see a snapper pick up bait and make a mad dash for the back 40. No, they will sit there and use their massive claws and armored beak to rip to shreds anything they can get in their clutch. I utilized a slack line to telegraph any activity at the bait, provided the wind was not gusting too strong. Patience is a virtue in that situation because if I reacted too quickly, I would miss the hook-set and waste bait in the process. When I was certain that the snapper had the baited hook in its mouth, I set the hook like I was trying to rip the jaw right out of its face, remember; the beak is bone hard. Now that the hook was set, my troubles had just begun.
The battle itself was not a great struggle because of the angle I was pulling from. Once I liberated him from the mud, he had no footing to provide leverage and it was a simple matter to get him to the surface of the stream. That's where the fun began you see because now I had to lift him 10+ feet to the roadbed by pulling up on the line hand over hand. As long as the test is adequate and the line is fresh, this should not be a problem. The problem came when that sucker hit the pavement because at that point, he was completely pissed off, big time!
I took on this assignment without thinking because it was then that I realized, I had given no thought as to how I would transport this vicious animal back to my home. Great job dumd ass, now what? The first thing the snapper did was to turn and face me for battle, and you know what, that got my immediate attention! The funny thing was that the snapper acted as though he had been through this routine before, as if he knew exactly where he was and how to get back to the water. “A display of memory”? When the snapper took steps toward the path that led down to the water, I countered the move to block him and that’s when he charged. The attack took me by surprise. I thought turtles were slow, deliberate creatures. That’s a myth. This Alligator Snapper was quick, decisive and, what seemed to me, calculating. I was amazed at his wild intelligence, however, his wits were no match for mine, if you overlook the fact that my dumb ass was out there, in the middle of the night, wrestling with an Alligator Snapping Turtle. Charge after charge and chase after chase, I finally got the tiger-by-the-tail so to speak. I had to make a decision though because I had no transport container. So, I displayed another feat of mental mastery and I opened the rear door of my car, threw the Alligator Snapper on the floor board, and drove home. Talk about young, dumb and stupid!!!!
That was more years ago than I'd care to mention. I accomplished the mission because I gave my word I would. The lessons I learned from that mission have served to sharpen my senses. Whenever I take on a journey, task, etc., I think it through to the end looking at it from every possible angle to find hidden dangers that might present themselves later on. I was arrogant and overconfident in that quest but, it turned out ok and the cook got his prize.
As far as noodling goes, my hat is off to those "warriors of the muddy banks" because there is no way under Gods' big blue dome that I am going to feel around in a dark muddy pool, with my bare hands no less, hunting for the head of an Alligator Snapping Turtle. I value my fingers too much for that crap. All you have to do is see one of these prehistoric looking creatures out of the water, standing there facing you and you will understand my motivation completely. The following image was taken at the welcome center when we entered the great state of Texas:
This is a tribute to a great animal by one of our greatest states: Texas!
Adult snappers have no natural predators other than humans, who capture them for their meat and shells, and to sell in the exotic animal trade. A severe reduction in population due to unregulated harvesting and habitat loss has led states to protect them throughout most of their range, and they are listed as a threatened species. Please check with state and local laws concerning harvesting. If we lose these animals from the face of this planet because of our carelessness, we will have done our planet a grave injustice. These are magnificient animals and we can only benefit by making a place for them in our scheme.