Snapping Turtle

[wsdstan]

While  checking how the irrigation was going this morning I came across this in my alfalfa field.  Not the biggest we have seen here but sure in the top ten.


 

[xj35s]

Did you kill that? IF so I hope you're cooking and eating it.

[wsdstan]

A friend is coming by to cut it up and cook it.  He has done several over the years and likes the meat. I will try it, but have never been  too enthusiastic about eating one. 

We don't set traps for them but will pick them up if we see them.  They kill a lot of young waterfowl and destroy a lot of nests. 

[wolfy]

They are yummy!  Don't be afraid of trying some if you get the chance!

[wsdstan]

I think he soaks it in cold water for a day or so, then rolls it in flour or corn meal, fry's it a bit, and then bakes it for a couple of hours.  I might be wrong though.

Having seen what these things will eat is likely why I am reluctant to eat one.  Rotten meat, and anything it encounters like snakes and dead fish.  I once had a cow die and fall in the seasonal creek that runs out of my reservoir.  When we went to pull it out of the creek there were three large snappers that came with it as we drug it up on the pasture. 

[OutdoorEnvy]

I suppose that is their role in this world...help clean up the dead stuff.  They are kind of neat though.  They really have that prehistoric look to them.  We would catch them as kids cat fishing now and then at the golf course ponds.  We would usually lop their heads off.  We would wade in the water for golf balls and sell them to the passing golfers...whenever we caught one we were always afraid we'd step on it later...When they get to be dinner plate size and up they are kind of scary..

If you try eating it I would be curious to hear what you thought of it.   Cool find!

[xj35s]

Yeah, You ahve to try it for all of us. I bet it's not far off from Gator? There are a lot of exotic meats in a small town meat shop. I want to buy some rattle snake but it looks very old and freezer burned. I guess I gotta find a live one.....

[wsdstan]

XJ I used to have a farm in eastern Colorado that was in their habitat.  The place next to mine had a cistern that in some years would yield up to 100 snakes.  They were selling the the venom to some guy who would come and milk them.  Some would then go to a guy who made freeze dried things from the snakes and from the skin.  They would save a few for a BBQ once in awhile.  I can tell you it don't taste like chicken.

[crashdive123]

No, it does not taste like chicken.  To me they have almost a clam like tast, but much gamier.  Might have been the way I have cooked them (roasted over a fire), but I have found that Sweet Babay Rays BBQ sauce helps a lot.

[wsdstan]

Crash, especially if you toss out the snake and just eat the Baby Ray's.

[madmaxine]

Snapping turtle is great breaded and fried...

...so are cat turds.

[Moe M.]

 

Snapping turtle is great breaded and fried...

...so are cat turds.

     

[wsdstan]

I suppose that is their role in this world...help clean up the dead stuff.  They are kind of neat though.  They really have that prehistoric look to them.  We would catch them as kids cat fishing now and then at the golf course ponds.  We would usually lop their heads off.  We would wade in the water for golf balls and sell them to the passing golfers...whenever we caught one we were always afraid we'd step on it later...When they get to be dinner plate size and up they are kind of scary..

If you try eating it I would be curious to hear what you thought of it.   Cool find!

I used to caddy at a high end country club.  We went along the creeks looking for golf balls too.  I think back then, about 1958 or 59 we got a quarter apiece for the good ones and zip for the cracked or scored balls.  We got a few snappers too and were scared of reaching down to get a ball and get bitten.  Hadn't thought about it for quite a long time.

I don't know when it will get eaten but if I do decide to try it I will let you know.

[madmaxine]

Our alligator snapping turtles are huge.  They are perfectly capable of chomping a hand off.  But mostly they are old and lazy.  Ya roll the dice.  Ya take your chances.

[wolfy]

We used to have a guy in our blackpowder club that worked on a railroad trestle crew.  He was a master turtle trapper and caught a lot of them.  At every rendezvous that I can ever remember attending, he & his wife would bring 3 big roasters full of turtle meat for feeding the masses.  It was delicious and very tender & moist, but the bones were weirdly shaped and nothing like any I've ever seen in any other critter.

[wsdstan]

I believe everything you say but I am still trepidatious about that meat.  Now you add strange bones. 



 

[madmaxine]

True story.
My BIL and I paddled up a creek (FL).  Looking to score some meat.  We hit the Oklawaha River and were excited to cast for bass.  There was a huge commotion in the lily pads.  We thought that we were blessed to observe an alligator eating a deer (It was that big).  Turns out .  It was two alligator snapping turtles doing the dirty deed.  They had no concern for us back in the weeds.

[wsdstan]

I saw a video on them awhile back.  They get pretty damn big and that set of jaws is kind of spooky.  That said the narrator said that the regular Snappers are more aggressive than the Gator type.