We rescued a snapper for this #wednesdaywalk by @tattoodjay
My wife somehow spotted this little half dollar sized hatchling in the middle of the road.
I ran out and got it quickly then we had to figure out what to do with it.
After it peed on me I figured it would best be let go at an arboretum pond.
My wife thought about keeping it as a pet but I warned her this thing would grow to be a beast.
Very small only the width of two fingers.
After many photos by my wife we walked to the lake.
But we didn't quite let it go just yet. My daughter had to let it walk around on her hands a bit. Thankfully at this size they don't bite like the big ones.
We let it go in a nice weedy area with duckweed for it to eat. Hopefully the weeds will help hide it from the herons and it will grow into a big dragon beast that can eat fish with one bite.
Plenty of other turtle buddies here too, mostly painted turtles and red eared sliders. But maybe a relative or distant uncle of this snapper lives here too...
Later I did see a huge snapper lurking around some bluegill. Hopefully this guy won't eat the little baby snapper lol. I'm sure these reptiles eat each other if they can as per reptile morality lol.
That's all for now, I'll be keeping an eye out for more hatchlings on the road. I still don't know how my wife even spotted it. One less turtle ending up a grease spot on the road at least. Perhaps it would have made a nice pet but eventually I would have needed a 200 gallon tank for it to live in, that's a bit too much.
Lovely to see up close on a rescue, place of release looks to be a haven, hopefully it grows to an adult.
I'm hoping the herons or a bass doesn't get it. It has to turn into Gamera.
Still snack size, hope it makes it to old age.
I wonder the percentage of survivors out of a clutch of eggs. Seems the herons just walk around gulping them down along with all the frogs.
Poor little rascal! Lucky you were nearby. Things like that leave their mark on the universe!
Thankfully my wife has such sharp eyes. She was afraid to pick it up thinking it would bite. But at that size it could do no damage.
Such a cute little fellow well done saving it
Thanks for joining the Wednesday walk
Have a great day
My wife later regretted letting it go. It would be a difficult pet over time lol.
Ohh yeah best to leave it in the wild i think
Or end up needing to dig a pond in the yard for it.
That's cool you got it to relative safety.
Early this summer my brother got a HUGE one across the road about a mile or so from here. It was on the main highway. He didn't get close enough to touch it, just stopped traffic so it could finish crossing.
I did wonder about your daughter playing with it. Glad it was too little to bite.
Dinosaur crossing beware. We let it go in a pond where we see a huge algae covered one that is almost tame enough to eat out of pur hand. We discovered the big guy when feeding carp, suddenly a large head emerged and was eating the fish food.
The hatchling was too concerned with finding water to bite. It did immediately start drinking when we put it in the pond, was probably thirsty from wandering around on blacktop.