Did you get a picture? Glad the turtle is all right. :)

i forgot to attach the pic This doesn't do him justice, he was big and by the looks of the wound on his shell I'd think a hawk or something thought he looked like a good meal.

That wound looks nasty. Poor thing! Hope he got rescued.

Aw...looks like his carapace needs mending. I can't tell if this is a snapping turtle like the tray-sized one we had in our driveway once. DH just happened to see it before he backed the car out of the garage. It had come up from our creek -- probably looking to mate. It got put back in the creek, verry carefully. You could lose a finger.

I rescued a huge one at our nature trail. I held on to his back so he couldn't bite and dragged him over off the path . He weighed a ton. I think it was a snapping turtle.

A zoo docent that I know said that if you do choose to rescue a turtle, to make sure to put him on the side in the direction he is going in.

Looks like a snapper ... don't let fingers or toes get near that jaw!

And best to help her/him get ahead toward where (it's) going, than to pull (it) back to where it was coming from.

ole joyful

It was being relocated about 1/4 mile, into the direction it was heading, which is very close to a running creek. Hope it all went well. Yes it looks like a snapper to me also which we have a lot of in Pa. I could see from the shell this is an old boy.

My family and I rescue them often this time of year. So nice that other drivers cared about the turtle too. Where I live I've seen too much of the opposite attitude.

Just don't relocate too far away. Many turtles are very connected to the area to which they are born and will spend however long it takes to get back to its own territory. They have an internal homing device. (You might want to check the batteries though! :)

I had no parts of relocating I think the game commission did it..the lady that found it phoned me today to say everything went smoothly (we exchanged #'s) and that a quick vet check showed the wound to be healing and he is a boy..lol...I've named him....James...haha.

Happy long life to you James. Thanks Mama for saving him.

It looks like a snapping turtle to me. The shape of its head, snout, and carapace says snapper. Those are called snappers for a reason. They have a strike as fast and any snake and the head can extend forward at least 1/3 the length of its shell. They have an exceedingly strong bite and once locked onto an object may not let go without serious prodding. When provoked by a strong stick, they have been known to grab the stick and hang on hard enough to be lifted off the ground.

That turtle has been wounded and it was more than a hit from a hawk.

At this time of the year, snapping turtles emerge from their winter homes, looking to eat, mate, and lay eggs. Likely, this one was looking for a place to lay its eggs.

Was headed into Ocean City NJ by the 34th street bridge... a few early summer's ago. Still on "back roads" and cars started slowing down. Several people were slowing/stopping cars and directing traffic. Several (like a few dozen) good sized turtles... most over dinner plate sized... of some kind were crossing the road. Some sort of "migration cuz they were on a mission to get somewhere. NOT an expert on turtles at all but thinking either for mating or laying eggs.

A little OT but still turtle related... WHY do we never see BABY box turtles??

thanks Mama for savings him!! i've always have had a soft spot for turtles!! too much development=road kill :(

It is a snapping turtle. Jemdandy is right about it being a female looking for a place to lay her eggs.

Just wondering..........is there a way to tell whether it is male or female without flipping it over? Coloring, maybe? I know nothing about turtles, but I am glad that lady stopped and took the time to help it.

As far as I know there's only one way to sex this turtle and that's by flipping it over.

Kudos to you for helping that big turtle. I rescued 19 turtles from the road or from parking lots over the past several years, but never one so big and scary. I've been told that a big snapper can bite right through a broom handle, so a finger would be like nothing to it.