http://www.nbc4.tv/slideshow/news%20...20;dm=ss;w=320
Link above is slideshow of the giant critter!
CALIFORNIA
Snap Out of It! Old Bob Caught
An alligator snapping turtle, the stuff of legend in Fullerton, is taken from
his haven.
By Mike Anton, Times Staff Writer
He lurked in the lake's muddy bottom for decades. He was huge, those who had
seen him testified, with fierce claws and powerful jaws. How the creature got
there was a matter of conjecture, but everyone agreed on one thing: Bump into
him at your own peril.
Scotland may have its Loch Ness monster. But in Fullerton, the legend is of
Old Bob, the giant alligator snapping turtle of Laguna Lake.
And, boy, was he ticked off Thursday when workers who were dredging the lake
as part of a restoration project hoisted the 4-foot-long, 100-pound beast from
his comfortable home.
"We all jumped back. You would've too," said Peter Path, owner of Pathco Lake
Management, the Santa Monica company that snagged Old Bob in its net. "It sort
of freaked us out."
The discovery put flesh on a story that had been spun since the 1970s by
astonished fishermen who have inadvertently hooked Old Bob.
"He's an awesome, awesome turtle," said Sharon Paquette of Brea, the vice
president of the Orange County chapter of the California Turtle & Tortoise
Club. "He's so handsome."
Alligator snapping turtles, which are native to the U.S. Southeast, are
illegal in California. Paquette, who was called to take temporary possession
of Old Bob, suspects he was a pet that got too big to handle and was released
in the lake - perhaps as long ago as the 1950s judging by his size.
Because alligator snapping turtles in the wild can weigh more than 200 pounds
and live 100 years, Old Bob is probably more accurately middle-aged.
And he was living the good life. With no natural predators, Old Bob was the
king of Laguna Lake, lazily gorging on a buffet of fish to his heart's
content.
All he needed was a TV and a recliner and he would've been set.
This summer, work began on a $2-million restoration of Laguna Lake, which was
built in 1916 to irrigate orange groves. In recent years, the lake - now the
centerpiece of a popular park - had become choked with decomposing vegetation.
Path and his crew had spent about a week pulling some 5,000 fish, including
bass, catfish and crappie, from the lake in preparation for drainage. Nearing
the end of their work Thursday, they found what appeared to be huge log in
their net.
Except this log had a head that lunged at them.
"He looked prehistoric," Path said.
Old Bob fought back, snapping off the end of a bamboo pole Path used to
maneuver him and trying to climb out of Paquette's pickup. He seemed to calm
down after she placed a kiddie pool, a blanket and a net on top of him.
For the time being, Old Bob is in a private backyard pond in Orange County. He
has plenty of fish, chicken and plants to eat and will eventually be crated
and flown to a preserve on the East Coast.
It's sort of an assisted living arrangement for turtles.
"He probably couldn't survive in the wild," Paquette said. "He doesn't know
how to hunt. He's had too cushy of a life."
Poor Bob..he should have been left alone IMO!
Reply With Quote
Bookmarks