I hate to see the bodies of hapless creatures that have been killed while trying to cross the road. On Sunday afternoon as I was driving to the Montgomery Walgreens, I spotted a creature on the shoulder of Route 208 that was soon to be in trouble. Because I subscribe to New York State’s Conservationist magazine I knew the animal was the state’s official reptile. I turned around at the entrance to a warehouse and parked off the road across from the critter. I didn’t want to lose a finger in my rescue attempt so I figured I could use a Craftsman tote bag I had with me to scoop up the extremely unfriendly animal. After I managed to cross the busy road my rescue target lived up to its name as I neared, the ten pound snapping turtle hissed and snapped its jaws. The ungrateful creature clamped onto the bag a couple times before I managed to get it in the bag and tie the handles together to keep it in the bag. I put the bag in the back of my pickup truck and drove to a fisherman’s parking area on the Wallkill River near Walden. I released the turtle into the river and hoped that it would move away from the fishing area and not end up mistakenly hooked.

After I completed my trip to Walgreens I checked for snapping turtle information online. According to a site I found snapping turtles can live to be 60 years old and they have remained unchanged for 90 million years. The site said that at this time of year some female turtles become confused while looking for an ideal spot to lay their eggs and they can wander miles in their confusion. I also discovered that the supposedly safe way to pick up a snapping turtle by the tail is not safe for the turtle, because their tails are connected to their spines and the heavy weight of the turtle can damage its spine causing paralysis. Snapping turtles have very long necks so trying to pick one up by the shell can lead to a very nasty bite.

If the Dinosaur Theme Park gets built in Montgomery I hope that it at least has some mention of the Montgomery resident that somehow survived the extinction of the dinosaurs 66 million years ago.