Ever heard of an alligator snapping turtle? It is the largest and heaviest turtle in the world which sometimes, cannibalised their own species if they had the opportunity to do so. They are aggressive, incredibly patient and would eat anything that they can get their hand onto. They have quite a number of characteristics which resemble an alligator, hence, the word Alligator in their name. A study which was conducted in 2014 has revealed that there are three species of alligator snapping turtles which have been mistakenly thought as one, which are:
- Macrochelys temminckii
- Macrochelys suwanniensis
- Macrochelys apalachicolae
If you take a closer look at them, they appear like a plated dinosaur with a shell which is equipped with some large-scale dorsal spikes. They are commonly associated with a common snapping turtle which came from a different genus classification and possessed different physical characteristics:
Both of them have a different head shape. The head of an alligator snapping turtle is pointed in a triangular fashion while a common snapping turtle, possess a rounded (more like an oval) head shape (If it is viewed from the superior angle).
The shell owned by a common snapping turtle is smooth compared to the shell owned by an alligator snapping turtle which has multiple dorsal ridges. As they get older, shells of both species will turn smoother but it will remain rougher for an alligator snapping turtle.
A unique characteristic of an alligator snapping turtle can be found at the edge of its bottom jaw. It is equipped with a fleshy lure which is capable of attracting fishes to come closer, believing it was a tasty worm. Well, too bad it is not. So far, an alligator snapping turtle is the only animal which has such luring system.
An alligator snapping turtle can grow up to 100 cm in length and weigh up to 100 kg in weight. They were capable of staying still for a longer period of time, waiting for its prey before lunging forward, seizing them at a high-speed snatch. They aren't so picky about food and as the opportunistic predator, they would hunt anything they are capable of catching.
According to a study which has been conducted in Louisiana by Elsey R.M., the majority of victims found in an alligator snapping turtle stomach content were the other species of turtles. There is a species of an adult alligator snapping turtle (I'm not quite sure which one) which has been found to hunt American alligators for food. I would say, it would take a lot more than courage to hunt a small American alligator which has been considered as one of the most dangerous freshwater reptiles in the world.
Some of the alligator snapping turtles are known to live beyond their speculated average lifespan. The majority of alligator snapping turtles can live up to 100 years but there are some which are found to have been alive for more than 200 years. These are some of the turtles which have been found swimming around in the wild. A captive alligator snapping turtle which is kept for either conservation or a pet can only live up to 70 years. The difference is significant which suggest some kind of environmental factors that influence the longevity of this species of reptile.
The tragedy in Idaho
On the 7th of March 2018, the world (well at least the state of Idaho) has been surprised with a news which entailed a science teacher in a high school located in the state of Idaho feed a sick puppy to an alligator snapping turtle which was kept as a biological specimen. It was unknown what is the true intention of the high school teacher but there are a few version of stories which can't be verified by anyone regarding its validity.
According to one of the stories, the high school teacher met with an unknown individual who brought a sick puppy to be attended by the school teacher. He (the school teacher) had a reputation for being compassionate with sick animals hence the trust placed by some people, on him to care for their sick pets. There are three students which have been helping him to feed the alligator snapping turtle, every day after the school session has ended.
While attending to the puppy, it won't eat or drink which make the high school teacher conclude that it can't be treated any longer; the puppy would die eventually. Well, to make it short, he drowned the sick puppy in an alligator snapping turtle tank where it was eaten by the reptile. The owner of the puppy was not upset due to the fact she understood that the sick puppy she owned was beyond saving. However, the "feeding session" was overheard by one of the school staff. The incident was reported to the local police afterwards.
Now, there are two sides of this story. One is the side which supports the action took by the high school teacher while the other side, opposed to the action taken. Whatever it is, the story went viral and he was investigated by the County Sherriff's office as to confirm the reason behind such action. I'm not here to judge anything, but I would say, I'm one of the people who believe that there is more than one way you can do the help that sick puppy; feeding it to an alligator snapping turtle is not on my list.
There are more than 90,000 signatures collected among people who opposed the high school teacher's action, which formally requested the teacher involved to be fired. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was contacted later, to assess the threat and all of the school located in Preston was monitored. This incident has made the alligator snapping turtle involved to be considered as invasive and it was euthanised later by the Idaho State Department of Agriculture.
The reason behind the decision made by the Idaho State Department of Agriculture was quite controversial. Even though, an alligator snapping turtle can be considered as one of the deadliest turtles in the world, the puppy which has been eaten was being fed by the high school teacher which make it unreasonable to expect the snapping turtle to ignore such delicious feast. The authority has been receiving quite a number of phone calls regarding the action taken to euthanise the snapping turtle.
According to a source, the high school teacher didn't even own a proper permit to keep such animal, it should be transferred to a conservation site, instead of being euthanised. As of 14th of June 2006, an alligator snapping turtle has been considered as a threatened species which has been listed in the IUCN red list. They are threatened to extinction in a few states in the USA so theoretically, they were heavily protected by the state law from the unlawful pet trade, poaching and habitat destruction.
References and further reading materials
- 10 Awesome Facts About One Of Nature’s Most Fearsome Creatures Retrieved May 8th, 2018
- Common Snapping Turtles VS Alligator Snapping Turtles Retrieved May 8th, 2018
- Authorities Seize, Euthanize Snapping Turtle Who Was Fed Puppy By Idaho Teacher, Robert Crosland Retrieved May 8th, 2018
- Idaho officials ‘humanely’ euthanize snapping turtle that reportedly was fed a sick puppy by a junior high school teacher Retrieved May 8th, 2018
- A Science Teacher Allegedly Fed a Puppy to a Snapping Turtle in Front of His Students Retrieved May 8th, 2018
- Alligator snapping turtle Retrieved May 8th, 2018
Video Source
- Alligator Snapping Turtle vs Common Snapping Turtle by Brave Wilderness. Youtube. Accessed on May 8th, 2018
SteemSTEM is a community project with the goal to promote and support Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics on the Steem blockchain. If you wish to support the steemSTEM project you can:
Contribute STEM content using the #steemstem tag | Support steemstem authors | Join our curation trail | Visit our Discord community | Delegate SP to steemstem