Prehistoric-looking creature that can bite off fingers found in Virginia neighborhood
Is it a pile of branches? A garden gnome? A dinosaur?
No. It’s a 65-pound alligator snapping turtle chilling with its mouth gaped open in what appears to be someone’s front lawn in Alexandria, Virginia.
The Fairfax County Animal Protection Police received a call Monday about a large turtle observed crossing the road several times near a pond, according to a Facebook post by the police department.
The spiny, prehistoric-looking creature is not native to the area and is believed to have been a pet that was released into the wild, the post said.
The turtle was “safely captured” and sent to the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDGIF) where it was officially named “Lord Fairfax,” the department said.
“Although the threat to humans was minimal, this animal would have most likely experienced a slow death as a result of either freezing or starvation, the VDGIF said in a Facebook post.
“If you are considering a turtle as a pet, please do your homework first and find out what it takes to provide adequate care for a lifelong commitment,” it added.
Alligator snapping turtles are the largest freshwater turtles in North America, and can live past 100 years, according to VDGIF.
They can grow to weigh over 200 pounds, which makes Lord Fairfax a “youngster,” the post said.
This species is “native to river drainages that flow in the Gulf of Mexico, east to Georgia and the panhandle of Florida and westward to east Texas,” the VDGIF said.
The turtles have no predators in the wild, but instead are mostly hunted by humans who use them for their meat and shells, “and to sell in the exotic animal trade,” according to National Geographic.
“A severe reduction in population due to unregulated harvesting and habitat loss has led states to protect them throughout most of their range, and they are listed as a threatened species,” the outlet said.
Lord Fairfax has found a new home in The Virginia Zoo in Norfolk where he will “hopefully” be part of a new exhibit, the VDGIF said in its post. Animal authorities cannot release the turtle back into the wild because he was a captive-bred animal.
This story was originally published June 15, 2020 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Prehistoric-looking creature that can bite off fingers found in Virginia neighborhood."
