Snapping Turtles

Here are a couple of Common Snapping Turtles I met back in August. I suppose you might find larger sea turtles out at the shore, but inland these guys are kings of the turtles, and considered a top predator in their ecosystems. They achieve this status despite being omnivores [1].

They do have a reputation for being aggressive, and they probably are fairly feisty if you encounter them on land where they presumably feel vulnerable and out of their element. It sounds like in the water though they'll usually just avoid humans.

Duke Island Park has a building (mostly closed during the pandemic) where if you go around the back, it overlooks the Raritan Water Power Canal. This is where the snapping turtles were. (Someone claimed they show up because people feed them. Generally speaking, this isn't a good idea; us humans rarely feed animals food that meets their nutritional needs [2]. Admittedly it did help me get these pictures.)

I thought the 1st snapping turtle to show up was pretty big.

August 4, 2021 at Duke Island Park
Photo 149027722, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

But then a substantially larger snapping turtle made the scene.

August 4, 2021 at Duke Island Park
Photo 149027835, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

I didn't detect any hostility between the 2 snapping turtles, though they didn't interact either. I suspect they were both there hoping to get fed, and were used to seeing other snappers doing the same thing.

[1] If you doubt that an omnivore can be a top predator, I suggest debating it with a Grizzly Bear.

[2] Sugar water for hummingbirds and birdseed for other birds are 2 notable exceptions.

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