Snapping turtle season/ species of special concern /proposed changes to acts

[jaycee]

Turtles, any species of turtle, should not be allowed to be harvested in this day and age. They are declining drastically world wide. They are ill equipped to deal with modern threats and pressures.

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I guess that you have never eaten "turtle " snapping turtles are excellent table fair, 3 different types of meat textures, and turtle soup. I would never decline if offered any , very tasty.

[dutchhunter]

Without a real study it's hard to say. I see many turtles and nests well beaver trapping. Most folks never get near turtle habitat.

[fishermccann]

Do the same people who do not want anyone to hunt turtles because of their decline, say the same thing about moose? I take one snapping turtle a year for a feast, tastes great.

[rfb]

I guess that you have never eaten "turtle " snapping turtles are excellent table fair, 3 different types of meat textures, and turtle soup. I would never decline if offered any , very tasty.

So lets wipe out a species because it tastes great. What a marvelous and typical response.

And as far as taking a turtle here and there, its extremely difficult to replace breeding age animals in turtle species. Look up the Algonquin Park studies for reference. And while some populations may be still locally abundant the population trends overall are sharply down.

Do the same people who do not want anyone to hunt turtles because of their decline, say the same thing about moose? I take one snapping turtle a year for a feast, tastes great.

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[efouge23]

I like the discussion going on, thanks for everyone's input so far!
I've been doing some more research so for people who are interested:
1. The main cause of their mortality is by far road ways and habitat loss, not necessarily hunting.
2. That being said, globally turtles are getting rocked by climate change and human effects (pollution/ land usage) so as a whole they are not doing so well.
3. although there is no data on populations in Ontario it is PROVEN that animals with high juvenile death rates and long adult life spans will be severely impacted by the death of adults in the population, and that recovery for these types of populations is incredibly slow.

"that populations of species with high, stochastic juvenile mortality and long adult life spans may be decimated quickly byincreased mortality'of adult animals, particularly if numbers of juveniles and immigrants are low. Recovery of such populationsshould be very slow because of a lack of effective density-dependent response in reproduction and recruitment" -Brooks et a. 1990 "Effects of a sudden increase in natural mortality of adultson a population of the common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina)"

To me it seems pretty clear that if we want these guy around in the future we should take any and all action to stop the adults from dying.
I'll post my paper up in a google doc when I can, it's only about 2 pages long but illustrates many of the same points as above except it is more related to policy than the turtles themselves.

[jaycee]

[COLOR=#333333]So lets wipe out a species because it tastes great. What a marvelous and typical response.

Where oh where , did I say lets wipe out a species because it tastes great ????

Myself , I have Never taken or killed a snapping turtle, "just said they taste great "having eaten them at friends that MAY take 1 a year .

Careful how you respond to posts.

Living in an area surrounded by large rivers, Grand and Speed , Nith, and many smaller rivers, and lakes and ponds all around, I see lots of SNAPPING TURTLES in the area, even in ponds on the Golf Courses of which there are lots all around the countryside.

[greatwhite]

They don't seem to be declining towards Eastern and Northern Ontario. Could this be more a Southern issue?

So lets wipe out a species because it tastes great. What a marvelous and typical response.

And as far as taking a turtle here and there, its extremely difficult to replace breeding age animals in turtle species. Look up the Algonquin Park studies for reference. And while some populations may be still locally abundant the population trends overall are sharply down.



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[boozyleroux]

It is my uderstanding that they are included in the act because of the reasons stated however we don't really have any kind of firm numbers on them anywhere in the province which to me ought to be a major part of the consideration to list them as a SAR. I've heard survival rates as low as 4% but I've never seen any kind of population estimates or tracking.

Again in we have a policy change being requested without any kind of solid science basis.

Personally i I wouldn't ever eat snapping turtle because of the reportedly high levels of mercury, cadmium and other heavy metals they accumulate over their long lifespans. The bus I'd never hunt them.

[awndray]

I have stopped and moved many turtles off the road but I'm sure they just wander right back out.

While we're on the subject, it's important to note that a turtle should never be turned around when one is trying to help it. If your going to help the turtle out of the road by moving it, make sure you move it in the direction of travel. Otherwise it will turn around and go back into the roadway.

[Fox]

While we're on the subject, it's important to note that a turtle should never be turned around when one is trying to help it. If your going to help the turtle out of the road by moving it, make sure you move it in the direction of travel. Otherwise it will turn around and go back into the roadway.

Snapping turtles can make a mess, don't get bit or scratched, nasty.

The Turtles sometimes like it on the road, the hot road surface warms up their bodies, then they get flattened by somebody texting.