The Capture of a Marsh Monster

JULY 19, 2009 - SUNDAY...

I had been in the water for nearly two hours, soggy, swamp drenched and stinking of a foulness that I cannot describe in words alone. At this point I had not made capture of any reptilian beasts...despite the fact that I had been tracking a large snapping turtle across the pond for nearly 45 minutes. The monster had eluded me so far, staying just ahead of me, peeking its head up above the surface of the water every so often for a breath of fresh air and a glance at where his pursuer was splashing about. The animal was smart, smarter than one would think for a simple vertebrate...the turtle would hover in water just deep enough to keep me at bay. I was loosing light and I decided to call it a day...

Trudging back toward shore, defeated by a some how seemingly clever beast despite the fact that he had a brain the size of a walnut. To make myself feel better I decided to give the other end of the swamp one more shot. Traipsing through the tall meadow grasses I pulled out my binoculars and took a quick look ahead...that is when I saw him. A different Snapper, resting happily near the shore on the north end of the marsh...he had not spotted me, in fact, he had no idea what-so-ever that I even existed. I watched patiently as the beast took a few breaths of fresh air and than re submerged his massive prehistoric looking head back below the surface and into the murky waters. In a bolt of speed I began to run toward the north end of the marsh. This turtle was hunting...he was not in alarm at all...and I knew that if I could get to his side of the marsh quickly, and get quietly into the water...I stood a good chance at surprising the lurking hunter, sneaking up on him and making a valiant capture.

When I arrived at the spot I quickly abandoned my gear. Quietly I began to wade into the brackish marsh water. Walking ever so carefully as to not disturb the water too much. Turtles of this size and stature don't take the time to mess around with intruders. The second this reptile felt a larger presence in his domain he would be off toward the deeper waters like a lightning bolt.

The sun was now just above the horizon, cutting a sharp angle across the water and actually illuminating it perfectly from the angle I was approaching at. I could see clear down to the bottom of the marsh...magnificent plumes of algae and swamp weeds looked like an explosion of underwater photosynthetic glory. That is when the mother nature revealed the beast to me. My heart rate began to escalate...a 40 lb Snapping Turtle lay motionless on the floor of the marsh. It's head and neck stretched out, the reptile was hunting any water creature unfortunate enough to come with in reach of its razor sharp beak. I tilted the brim of my had down, shading the light from my eyes, took one more positioning step forward and reached cautiously into the water...I knew I was going to have one, and only one shot at a legitimate capture. Turtles of this size are incredibly strong, and incredibly fast...contrary to popular myth. If I didn't land a good grip on the back of this animal's shell...the mere disturbance of my hands in the water would send him running for the far side of the marsh...and my potential success will have been foiled.

This was it...I was ready...hands a foot and a half below the surface and with a final exhale I grabbed hold of the turtle and the ride began! Lashing forward the beast tried to run...I had a firm hold on the spiked rim of his carapace "top shell" and with my right hand i grabbed hold of his back right leg. The strength and power were incredible, the turtle began to pull me forward and I had to reposition, nearly falling face first into the thigh deep murky water. Had I not gained better position this one would have gotten away! Wrestling to keep myself steady I held onto the thrashing turtle with all my might...his back feet kicking and scraping, razor sharp claws dig deep into my fingers and hands, cutting deep into the flesh and I strain to endure the pain..if I let go now...he gets away...all i get is muddy and cut up...the hell with that. I fight harder...pulling the animal backward toward the shore. As the water gets shallower... I gain control...at this point the beast decides that flight is no longer possible...it is time to fight. When this happens you find yourself in an even more dangerous situation...the turtle no longer cares to get away...he wants to attack!

Now the challenge isn't to keep him from getting away...its to keep him from turning around on me...his grapefruit sized head lashing out above the surface of the water with so much force that waves are formed in the beasts wake. Left and right the turtle tries to attack me...his dinosaur like webbed feet still carving thanksgiving into my hands when finally I make land fall. I am exhausted and I stop for a moment...to pull the beast out of the water and into a controlled environment where I am alpha and he is omega is going to take a big burst of energy. 40 lbs doesn't seem that heavy if you are referring to a bag of topsoil...but give that bag a razor sharp beak, 20 knife like claws and a serious attitude problem...and you are now dealing with what seems like 100 lbs of danger and disposition.

I held the beast securely on the edge of the marsh...I rested...he calmed, realizing that at the moment it didn't seem as if I was going to harm him. I looked down at both hands, the blood from my lacerations ran bright red down my fingers and into the water. Damn...this bastard cut the hell out of me...I hoped that stitches wouldn't be necessary...and I prayed that some sort of weird reptilian disease would not begin to fest in the coming days and turn me into a beast of the marsh myself...than again I thought...the definition of a reptilian beast is probably pretty vague considering the situations and challenges I seem to enjoy placing myself in.

This was it..the moment of victory...with a final burst of energy I lifted the animal up into the air and began to carry him onto land. A fury of jaws lashing, clawed feet thrashing and me wincing as the already tender wounds on my hands are revisited and once again etched with disdain for removing this monster from his hunting grounds. Up into the meadow grasses we struggled and when I felt that we were far enough from water for me to be in control of the situation...I released him to the ground. Immediately the turtle spun around and charged me, as most upset snapping turtles will do. I had to take several steps backward as he lunged and snapped at my legs. The turtle attempted attack for several minutes before realizing that I was not fighting back and he was captured. Huddled in the meadow grass he sat... defeated, captured...ready to be photographed. I grabbed my camera and went to work...shooting the turtle from various angles and eventually making friends, or as much of friends as one can make with a turtle.

When I had my fill of good shots I picked the now calm turtle up by the back of his shell and carried him back to the waters edge, placing him gently on the bank. He stayed a moment longer and than I watched as he lumbered down the bank and into the brackish muck, finally disappearing back into the mysterious realms of the murky marsh waters. Today was a good day.