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Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4621022
08/26/14 11:26 PM
08/26/14 11:26 PM
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 148
OH
M
mousie Offline OP
trapper
mousie  Offline OP
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M

Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 148
OH
Originally Posted By: mousie
will try to weight some today and get a few more pics




never make someone a priority when they make you an option !
Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4621030
08/26/14 11:33 PM
08/26/14 11:33 PM
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 5,101
Northern Michigan
J
J.Morse Offline
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J.Morse  Offline
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J

Joined: May 2013
Posts: 5,101
Northern Michigan
C'mon Miss Mousie, I can't stand the suspense.....how big???? Those pictured are some brutes.


Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4621241
08/27/14 08:17 AM
08/27/14 08:17 AM
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 148
OH
M
mousie Offline OP
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mousie  Offline OP
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M

Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 148
OH
L to R 45 39 36 31.


never make someone a priority when they make you an option !
Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4621474
08/27/14 12:16 PM
08/27/14 12:16 PM
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,228
wantage n.j.
E
eric space Offline
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eric space  Offline
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E

Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,228
wantage n.j.
Here is my secondary spring house that I forgot to include in last nights post. It has a small water hole inside, just big enough for 60 turtles or so. As a side note there is a window in the back
and it is an excellent deer and bear stand!

Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4622474
08/27/14 11:12 PM
08/27/14 11:12 PM
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 148
OH
M
mousie Offline OP
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mousie  Offline OP
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OH
a little piece of paradise there eric. your pics of such full traps makes me think you are over run with snapping turtles in jersey.
impressive the number of turtles in each trap and the number of traps that are loaded.

i do have a question though. a friend has said that turtles in captivity will lose weight. a pound a day he says. well that cant be true or in 2 weeks a 15 pound turtle would weight almost nothing. lol that said they can get tank rash from claws if over stocked. we keep ours cool and covered in deep tanks but also feed them fish and dry dog food. which they do eat. any thoughts on any of this?

mousie


never make someone a priority when they make you an option !
Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4623043
08/28/14 12:08 PM
08/28/14 12:08 PM
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,228
wantage n.j.
E
eric space Offline
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eric space  Offline
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,228
wantage n.j.
Turtles in warm water will fight to escape and lose weight rapidly. In these spring houses the water is cold, I have tried to feed the turtles but they will not eat, the water is that cold. They do empty their intestinal system and that is some weight loss but other than that they seem to lose little if kept for a month or so. A few years ago a neighbor caught a snapper in mid September and put it in my springhouse after I was done for the year and he was still there and lively the next spring when I went to put my first catch in.
Until I started turtle catchin' 10 years ago no one had done it much here commercially since the late 60's. I have empty traps too, but no one wants to see empty trap pictures. I usually average 2.5 to 3 keepers per trap. The one thing I like about the cages is that I rarely get to a trap and find a turtle outside trying to get in from the side (this seems to be common with net traps). I think the hard sides are more likely to guide the turtle to the opening. Eric

Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4623904
08/28/14 10:45 PM
08/28/14 10:45 PM
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 148
OH
M
mousie Offline OP
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mousie  Offline OP
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OH
yes i had that happen twice this year. pull up and a turtle either on top of the net or trying to get in and swim off right before my eyes. i think i caught them a day or so later with fresh bait. i have used carp (flesh) or carp caps (skull dome with is full of oil) and several types of other fish. quill back shad buffalo sucker etc. my favorite is skip jack herring with are usually just under a pound and at times well over two pounds. they are very oily and remind me of a mini tarpon. fisherman here use them for catching shovel head and blue catfish. they are also a good raccoon and mink bait. eric where did you say the photos of your wire cage traps are located? is it here on trapperman? again thanks for your contribution. it doesnt seem like there are many turtle trappers on here or at least they arent willing to share.

mousie


never make someone a priority when they make you an option !
Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4625035
08/29/14 06:57 PM
08/29/14 06:57 PM
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 10
Missouri
F
Fudd Offline
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Fudd  Offline
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Posts: 10
Missouri
My hats off to ya, those are some quality turtles.

Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4626940
08/31/14 10:02 AM
08/31/14 10:02 AM
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 148
OH
M
mousie Offline OP
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mousie  Offline OP
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OH
heres an oddball shaped snapper who it appears at an early stage in its life had its shell crushed and survived. it regrew into a dome shape. probably hit by a tractor or a car.











never make someone a priority when they make you an option !
Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4626948
08/31/14 10:08 AM
08/31/14 10:08 AM
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 4,235
montana
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andy weiser Offline
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Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 4,235
montana
Cool pic mousie!

Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4626990
08/31/14 10:27 AM
08/31/14 10:27 AM
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 2,963
Central Ontario, Canada
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Crit-R-Dun Offline
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Crit-R-Dun  Offline
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Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 2,963
Central Ontario, Canada
The turtle lovers are campaigning hard in Ontario these days exploiting the notion that turtle numbers are dwindling. They should try nuisance beaver trapping in the summer if they think numbers are low.

Great thread and pics, thanks Mousie. Good job.

Last edited by Crit-R-Dun; 08/31/14 10:28 AM.
Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4629982
09/02/14 03:40 PM
09/02/14 03:40 PM
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,228
wantage n.j.
E
eric space Offline
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eric space  Offline
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Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 1,228
wantage n.j.
last load of the year awaiting pic-up

Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4632431
09/03/14 10:44 PM
09/03/14 10:44 PM
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 148
OH
M
mousie Offline OP
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Posts: 148
OH
it isnt always about the money. sometimes you feel the need to give back. i confess we have caught and released (even relocated) far more turtles than we ever kept. at times we get a tip that a pond or lake is being drained. some of which have been around fifty years or longer. these watersheds have turtles in them that may have migrated there since there beginnings so who knows what turtles may lurk there and for just how long.

such was the case this august when we stopped by a farm that had recently been sold to developers. a one acre pond that had been been drained over a month ago but still held a little water. the water of course was less than two feet deep. even more frustrating was the fact the muck around the pond wouldnt allow us a close approach without sinking up to ones knees. it was very frustrating.
the good news? we were able to see sign of turtles crawling out of what little water was left behind. where had they gone to? we had no idea. maybe they had returned. but the sign obviously showed tracks and belly drag marks from larger turtles than we had taken all summer. a small pool of water at the opposite end of the pond held a hope that they had only gone that far. it was no more than 6 inches deep and thirty feet across. a mere fraction of its former self. no more than a mud puddle really. yet evidence indicated the turtles had stayed behind and possibly buried themselves in the mud. slide marks indicated some had decided to leave. did they return? try to travel across land? we had no way of knowing. with no ponds or lakes in the area the risk of dying of dehydration was a real risk. snappers can last about two days out of water with the sun this hot.
with the august heat there was no time to waste. time was of the essence. if any turtle were here it was now or never. these larger turtles seem to have been buried in the mud through the hottest weeks of august but as the rains have cooled things down it seems they are again feeding the last days of summer. if it cooled down in a week or so the turtles would stop feeding. it was nearing september. our nets would be nearly sitting in inches of water. not ideal to be sure. the muck held us at bay. pondering on just how to handle the situation a large snapper reared its head out of the moss and lazily moved toward the middle of the pool. at that point we knew there was no turning back. it was a long shot but we felt well worth the risk.


whats left of the pond after it was drained.






picture shown:

evidence of some large heavy snappers. how many had left? how many were here? we could only guess. in the below pictures shown only six inches of water remained on one end of the drained pond. about thirty yards away at the deeper end there was less than two feet of water in a small pool. the hot august sun would evaporate it even more. many people would have passed it by. but experience told us there were still turtles here. in the hot sun the water temps were rising and we figured the heat had caused the larger turtles to bury in the mud to cool their body down. big turtles because of their mass can easily overheat. in such heat the bait will spoil fast but heavy rain storms were coming. its now or never we said. many would have passed this place up. but we re not many people.







time to set the nets !







with the muck conditions of the banks a 2x10 plank allowed for a closer approach. a four prong hook on a long rope would allow us to be able to retrieve the nets with a simple toss as our nets were not out very far at all. with the heavy turtles caught and dragging it toward us the muck would ball up and at times outweighed the catch. to be sure it was no easy task and we were usually covered in mud when it was all said and done. but isnt all trapping at times challenging?

mousie






















never make someone a priority when they make you an option !
Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4649833
09/16/14 07:00 PM
09/16/14 07:00 PM
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 148
OH
M
mousie Offline OP
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mousie  Offline OP
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Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 148
OH











below is a picture of our largest one and wouldnt you know it came out of the shallow end of the pond that only had about six inches of water !
these turtles were quite old and indeed a handful and wouldnt be worth eating. we took nine turtles over 30 pounds from this single one acre pond plus a good many smaller ones. not bad for a couple of gals. all these old turtles will be relocated to lakes where we have plenty of females waiting. we have no idea the true age of these turtles but figured they were over 35 to 40 years old.



thanks for reading













never make someone a priority when they make you an option !
Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4649866
09/16/14 07:23 PM
09/16/14 07:23 PM
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 962
north west ohio
T
trapperand Offline
trapper
trapperand  Offline
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T

Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 962
north west ohio
Nice.:)


ANDY MOORE
Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4650666
09/17/14 11:06 AM
09/17/14 11:06 AM
Joined: Jun 2008
Posts: 371
Ohio
W
whitfield Offline
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Posts: 371
Ohio
Great post way to go Mousie

Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4650713
09/17/14 11:49 AM
09/17/14 11:49 AM
Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,460
havelock, NC
Rye Offline
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Rye  Offline
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 4,460
havelock, NC
Very nice post... I was going to mention using planks to cross the mud, but I see you got it figured laugh


"Don't go around saying the world owes you a living; the world owes you nothing; it was here first. "
--Mark Twain.

Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4652420
09/18/14 04:33 PM
09/18/14 04:33 PM
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 148
OH
M
mousie Offline OP
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Posts: 148
OH
thanks guys. yes rye someone had suggested it to help support our weight. we dont weight very much but the much would have us stuck in no time.
it wasnt the worst place i ve trapped turtles but was by far the dirtiest. mike row wouldnt have done it! lol you dont see any pictures of us once we got covered in mud because quite frankly we were afraid to ruin the camera.


never make someone a priority when they make you an option !
Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4652433
09/18/14 04:43 PM
09/18/14 04:43 PM
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 11,441
Montana ,Rocky Mtns.
Sharon Offline
"American Honey"
Sharon  Offline
"American Honey"

Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 11,441
Montana ,Rocky Mtns.
As the others have said,very nice shots.

Ive never learned so much about those snappers and how to recognize their sign along shores as I have in your pictures.

Very nice education habitat views you have there.
Like the action shots of you both too.

Thank you Hope. wink cool

Re: Ohio turtle trappers [Re: mousie] #4654653
09/20/14 08:43 AM
09/20/14 08:43 AM
Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 148
OH
M
mousie Offline OP
trapper
mousie  Offline OP
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Joined: Jul 2013
Posts: 148
OH
thanks Sharon. that means a lot to me coming from you. i am trying to tell a story as much as just show some pictures of a caught snapping turtle. trapping turtles have become a part of my life over the past few years as well as a source of income. i have tried to teach others about the importance of snapping turtles in our ecosystem. its my way way of giving back i suppose.

mousie



they cant all be big ones i guess. lol








never make someone a priority when they make you an option !
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