MONROE COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — If you’re planning a trip to Monroe Lake soon, do you need to be wary of a nine-foot, 300-year-old snapping turtle capable of killing a person?
The short answer – no.
But in a recent Facebook post that has 12,000 shares and counting, someone satirically chronicled this tale, leading to some panic and concern from Facebook users.
Indiana DNR, though? They were not so easily convinced.
“The first thing that tipped me off that it was a highly suspicious post was the size of the turtle,” Indiana DNR herpetologist Nathan Engbrecht said. “I think it was nine-feet-long is what they said; that’s just completely beyond the size of any Indiana turtle. It’s probably actually bigger than any sea turtles that are out there.”
Engbrecht said the age of the turtle was also a giveaway to those knowledgeable about Indiana’s reptile and amphibian population.
“Snapping turtles can get up to 30-40 years of age, even older than that, perhaps 50 years,” Engbrecht explained. “I can’t remember exactly when Lake Monroe was built, I think it was in the 60s, so that goes back several decades, but not 300 years; not before the founding of our country.”
So, the chances of encountering a monstrous snapping turtle while boating or swimming in local waters is next to zero. The higher chance of a turtle sighting comes from smaller snapping turtles, box turtles, painted turtles, softshell turtles and the other dozen species found in Indiana.
The safety risks associated with these more likely encounters are still minimal, and usually depend on the behavior of the human, not the turtle itself.
“When it becomes a little bit of a safety issue is when someone tries to grab one,” Engbrecht explained. “Softshell turtles have really long necks and they can reach back and bite pretty easily.”
What about those snapping turtles?
“Snapping turtles are notorious for what I would like to call defensive behavior. It’s not so much aggressive in that they’re chasing people, but when they’re on land snapping turtles are out of their element and they’re very defensive. They can bite pretty quickly with a pretty good reach on that neck.”
While it is not advised to pick up turtles in their natural habitat, if you do happen upon one in a roadway, it can be helpful to pick the turtle up and place it on the side of the road it was headed for – just be sure to grab near the back of the shell.
This interaction can be helpful toward conservation efforts, which are necessary in the Hoosier state, as exactly half of the 16 species in the state are listed as either “endangered” or “special concern”.
Turtles face several conservation challenges, according to Engbrecht, including the following:
- Public roadway travel leads to many turtle deaths
- People collect turtles illegally and then sell them overseas
- People collect turtles as pets without checking DNR’s regulations
- Nests are often dug up by smaller predators like raccoons, skunks or opossum
To find out how to help with conservation efforts regarding turtles and other Indiana wildlife, you can visit the Indiana DNR website.
