Snappy Common Snapping Turtle Facts

Welcome to column number fourteen describing the animals of Speaking of Wildlife – Ontario animals that can’t be released back into the wilderness of Ontario due to injuries or habituation to humans. Today we’ll be examining two of our more lump-shaped residents: Sam and Coco, our common snapping turtles.

 Of the three extant species of snapping turtle (not counting the only somewhat-related alligator snapping turtle, which is its own enormous can of worm-shaped tongue-lures), the common snapping turtle is the only one found in Canada, and is the country’s largest freshwater turtle by any measure.

It can be easily recognized by its big knobbly prehistoric head and jaws, its long, serrated prehistoric tail, its giant powerful prehistoric claws, and its generally noteworthy gnarliness and size. Exceptionally big (and old – they continue to slowly grow after reaching adult size, and can probably make it for more than a century), male snappers can reach shell lengths of half a meter and can weigh over thirty-five pounds. But, that impressive bulk comes at a price: common snappers take over a decade and a half to reach reproductive age, and like so many other turtles, their infant mortality rate is gruesome.

Adults – especially larger ones – are relatively safe from predation (particularly in the water) from anything short of a bear or an alligator, but the snapping turtle, like so many other slow-moving animals, is yet to develop a defensive reaction to being hit with a car. Though not a globally endangered species, this vulnerability – and its accompanying threat of habitat fragmentation via roadways – has led to the common snapper being listed as ‘special concern’ under Ontario’s Endangered Species Act. It’s a terrible waste of 20 plus years of turtle lifespan and a failure of basic kindness to see an adult snapper come to grief through careless driving; and given the long distances the adults can travel overland when laying eggs or just looking for new pastures, vehicle intersections are a more and more common hazard for them. Please watch for turtle crossings!

For the newbies, simply spending two to three minutes in these cool waters can help to build confidence for future dips. They may find they want to stay in longer, and even swim around, just like their winter-loving compatriots. There is such joy in being able to move your body in cold water. It stems from trusting oneself, which is a central benefit of practicing cold water immersion to begin with.

We learn to set our mind to something challenging, and then are rewarded with the numerous benefits of cold water exposure: strengthening of the cardiovascular system and circulation, improved immunity, lower systemic inflammation, boost in mood and energy, improved metabolic health and improved sleep.

Our body releases 500% more noradrenaline than when at base levels, as well as 230% more dopamine, meaning that after spending some time in cool water (just a bit more time than in cold water for the same effect) we have just helped our body and mind get a little bit stronger.

My interactions with Sam and Coco are straightforward enough: if it’s a turtle feed day, the turtles get fed. Although, as the largest and most carnivorous of our turtles, their food is a bit different than the more standardized pellets and greens everyone else shares in. A frequent dietary item – especially for Coco – is a special ‘turtle jelly’ blended from gelatin, fruit, vegetables, fish, meat, and nutritional supplements into a horrible goo, and then frozen into strips before being thawed. This is fed out as required by putting it in tongs and carefully placing it in front of their noses, with surprisingly rapid results (Coco usually wants three strips; Sam can eat more than that, but will also accept snapping turtle pellets much more readily than Coco). Weekly fare also includes greens, and on special occasions shrimp has been served and eagerly devoured.

My other guaranteed involvement comes during my weekly cleaning of the turtle filters. Sam and Coco are the largest turtles with the biggest tanks, and those tanks demand the biggest filters –stand-alone units, not the smaller tank-mounted filters so many of the others use. Cleaning them is messy but straightforward enough. The tricky part comes when you’re trying to prime the filter with water using one hand, plug it back in with the other, and gently relocate Sam while he attempts to start an argument with the intake pipe as it wiggles around. That’s three hands, which is one more hand than most adult humans have, and it’s difficult to deal with. Typically I gently drag him to the far side of his tank and try to finish up before he comes back over to say hello. Coco, by contrast, is a complete gentlewoman and has never once done a thing to make filter cleaning difficult besides falling asleep on top of the pipes. 

You can meet Coco, Sam, and other inhabitants at Speaking of Wildlife during some of their open houses or other programming. For more information on these and on opportunities to volunteer, donate, or have some SOW animals at your next event, follow Speaking of Wildlife on Facebook at facebook.com/SpeakingOfWildlife or go to the website at www.speakingofwildlife.ca.