At the General Meeting in November we had two great speakers present on the topic of alligator snapping turtles. 

The first presenter was Eric Munscher of the Turtle Survival Alliance and SWCA. He started by telling us a bit about turtles and their rapid rate of extinction saying, "Turtles are the top vertebrate heading towards extinction". The alligator snapping turtle is no exception. It is the USA's largest hard-shell turtle. The historic record it 90kg or 200lb; they can live up to 200 years, bite at 1000psi, and primarily feed on fish and carrion. They can be found in the South Eastern USA and up the Mississippi River to Northern Illinois. The furthest West they have been found in Texas is in Harris County. Their primary habitat is river systems that are tannin tainted, turbid, and spring fed. Their decline has been attributed to their harvest for food, habitat loss, incidental drownings, and habitat degradation. There are no federal protections for the alligator snapping turtle. There are some state protections, but the one state that lacks protection is Louisiana. They were thought to have been in Harris County, Texas for 50 years. Since they were found studies have been conducted and 73 turtles have been marked in Buffalo Bayou. There were 26 males, 33 females and 14 juveniles. Other hot spots for alligator snapping turtles include the Dunlevy area and Memorial Park. The turtles found in Harris County, Texas are special because they are the only ones that have been studied in an urban area. 

The second presenter was Kelly Norrid of Texas Parks and Wildlife who spoke about a Greens Bayou alligator snapping turtle study. Greens Bayou was chosen because it’s the largest watershed solely in Harris County and stretches 212 square miles. The habitat assessment was done on the east side of the bayou because it is the least channelized. The goals of the study were to trap individuals, check sex ratios, check age, populations, size, weight, and range. The largest movement they have recorded so far was 8600 feet. The way to differentiate between a common snapping turtle and an alligator snapping turtle is a common snapping turtle will lunge at you; an alligator snapping turtle will not lunge at you but rather sits there with its mouth open.