Question:
I am a water plant superintendent in Okla.We recently had
to drain a dam for the removal of silt.We discovered a 34 lb. alligater
snapping turtle I would like to know more about the species.Also if they
are indangered?
Replies:
Alligator snappers are I believe still fairly common in the Mississippi and
other large rivers in the M. basin, can get much larger than the one you
discovered. A good book on reptiles of the region should tell you what you
want to know.
J. Elliott
ou can find a lot of (Scientific) information about alligator snapping
turtles at
http://www.xmission.com/~gastown/herpmed/snapper.htm.
This mostly tells about how the population is declining, as a result of
overfishing and habitat destruction. Apparently they aren't endangered
yet, but they are moving in that direction.
More information about how to keep them, and pictures, can be found at
http://www.turtleman.com/index.htm.
You can probably find a few more sites yourself, but these were the best I
found.
Richard E. Barrans Jr., Ph.D.
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