Snapping Turtle Attacks Porcupine
2014 ж. 26 Қаң.
901 024 Рет қаралды
Large snapping turtle attacks and eats a porcupine on the Turtle Flambeau Flowage in Northern Wisconsin. July 4, 2013. GPS 46.101563 -90.102820
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There are several ways to look at that. We were being very quiet so we did not scare the porcupine while taking pictures. We did not know what was going on until it was too late and the porcupine had drown. If we had known what was happening, we may have broken it up. On the other hand the turtle was not doing anything other than trying to feed itself and breaking it up would have stressed the turtle so even if we knew what was happening, we may have still let nature take its course. Nature is sometimes pretty violent but that really is life in the wild. We do not watch the video much because it is sad but it is important from the scientific knowledge that it uncovered. No one that I have talked to have ever heard of this happening before.
Oh yes they will take ducks, musk rats, other turtles.
Why would you interfere with the cycle of life? Are you god?
Actually, I think the comment about possibly saving the porcupine has generated some good educational discussion. There are always several ways to look at a situation. Another way to look at the encounter is that it happened in about 4 feet of water in a flowage. That means that all of the porcupine's trees were cut down and a dam was built that totally changed the landscape in that area and turned a forested area into shallow lake. The logs and the turtle would not even have been there if someone had not already modified the natural cycle. With an abundance of porcupines with few predators, it is actually good to see that there is another animal helping keep the number of porcupines in check. A discussion of a man made flowage being a good thing or bad thing would be the type of thing that could create massive flame wars that I would like to avoid. Thanks for adding to the discussion!
2kayakcampers Great Shit you caught here be proud!!! You don't have to explain to every shit head that comes along. This is an awesome catch of the circle of life maybe you should think of trying to get National Geographic to buy it off you make some cash!!!!
Wow shame on camera guy
That turtle is huge ! Never knew they ate porcupines. Great footage.
They'll eat anything
I guess they'll eat human too if they're big enough and got the chance
Royal Rumble, not true. It depends on what type of turtle it is. as some turtle species are herbivores. tortoises for example will only eat plants.
@@SteelRhinoXpress Snapping turtle, not box turtle. Watch the video.
They as in turtles.
Me: needs to go to bed. Also me: needs to watch video of turtle attacking porcupine.
Zarley!
Shredder is no match for Donatello, Master Splinter has trained him right. .
Shawn P is shreddeder actually a porcupine
i dont get it
no, Raphael
@Oh My Mod lol
You're a deucebag
Actually my dear You did the right thing by not interfering the nature act..
When nature calls i relieve myself. It's not like someone should stop me. Know what i mean?
Karl McAydey - So if you were being attacked by a Crocodile or an Anaconda you would tell me not to interfere?
Marcfj Not even remotely the same thing and you know that.
Sporf Sporf - On the contrary, the only difference is in your own subjective mind. In reality, there is not a shred of difference and YOU KNOW THAT!
Marcfj. If you say so. It's clear no productive conversation is to be had here. I won't say it's wrong to help the porcupine, I certainly understand the sentiment, but to compare not doing so to allowing a fellow human to be killed by a wild animal is ludacris. The reality of it is quite different.
Godzilla vs Anguirus
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Doggo I was thinking more of Koopa Troopa vs Porcupo
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Doggo I'd buy you a beer for that if I could, cheers
More like Gamera vs Jiger
*Gamera vs Anguirus*
Your Friendly Neighbourhood Doggo Gamera vs Angirus
4:40 You can see all the quills stuck in turtle's feet.
he paid for his supper with pain.
@@artstrology it was just eating
Those will probably never come out.
TheNoisePolluter That poor snapping turtle made a bad choice on which animal to hunt, the ones that probably are going to end up in his throat while he's eating it are going to kill the turtle, it probably die after eating that porcupine..
@Edwin Reveron I don’t think so I’ve caught a lot of snapping turtles and every single one have easiest passed the very large fishing hooks that they swallow. So I think he’ll be just fine.
Thank you for capturing and sharing this. I once saw a large snapper grapple a large carp. The two of them rotated slowly in the water until the snapper became victorious. It was the most prehistoric image I've ever seen. It happened in the shallows of a northeast (NY)pond.
This is why I only swim in swimming pools
You're no Alpha that's for sure
@@jaygo71 So an alpha is someone who swims is predator infested waters? Nah.
@@kombokhan no a alpha eats the predators.
We've swam in rivers, lakes, ponds, creeks, since we were kids, 30 yrs, no turtle attacks yet, although some kid did suffer a cottonmouth bite, he lived though.
Tron Why don't you come down to Louisiana on a really hot year and go swimming
I can't understand the other video where a snapping turtle loses against otter
JoyLaLuna you watched that video too? what's going with these recommendation videos. I'm expecting a video of an eagle eating the otter by now.
@@TheFlamingReconz I'm expecting a video where a turtle avenges the other turtle
@@themusicstash2696 Mustelids are the ninja of mother nature. So that slow snapper got no chance.. how many times did the otter flips before he kills. Too many advantages
Otters can kill lots of things you would not expect them to be able to kill. I feel bad for the turtle in that video, got his intestines sucked out through his ass while he was still alive.
Lol i have already said that i saw that and thought poor turtle! Now i think fck the turtles!
I gotta admit, I thought this was one of those b.s. videos...dang, I'm totally shocked...
Who knew porcupines were aquatic predators!?! Haha! Edit: AQUATIC PREY
And now who's going to remove all those quills from the snapping turtle!?! Lol
@@a.toliver-cunningham7984 The turtle has a shell lol
Wowzers!!! Incredible footage!! Those snappers are actually really scary!! I remember my first time seeing one.... Very scary! They are "the" swamp monsters!
I always say that the more time you spend out in nature, the more chance for random awesomeness to occur. It was pure luck to catch this. My kids complained once when we were in Florida that we spent 30 minutes watching one bird, but that is what sometimes pays off. If we had not spent 15 minutes watching the cute little porcupine, and had paddled on instead, we would have missed the whole thing. The same thing happened in our Spring Island 2014 video. There is video and photos in there of a pair of coastal wolves munching on what is left of a sea otter. I was dawdling behind the other paddlers in our group and saw some more awesomeness. The next day my wife and I went back with one of the guides to see if they were still there and got some good shots. Not great because the lighting was very flat and it was windy and overcast, but the experience was amazing.
Chef Snapping is preparing his latest cuisine, fresh Porcupine served with a side of swamp grass and submerged weeds.
Lol "Chef Snapping," I wish someone would Photoshop a little chef's hat on its head.
Snapping turtles dont let go. They are the turtle version of a bulldog
Who posted this comment? I didn,t
@@badgoodweather Seriously? That's pretty weird if it's true
lol you let someone use your phone?
Quite a time to just realize about this now.
What an awesome catch!!!! To happen upon this..... What are the odds. It sucks to be the animal that Became dinner. This goes to prove something I have always tried to tell people, snapping turtles are awesome predators!!! These turtles don't just sit on the bottom and wait for a fish to happen along they hunt and stalk there prey like any other preditor! This one must of been tired of eating fish and frogs. He wanted some red meat!!!! This was pretty cool to 👀 thanks for posting. Peace!!!!
I've been curious as to what animal could defeat a porcupine. I hadn't considered a snapping turtle which is built for the task. Im thinking that a Hippo with it's tough skin could get the job done as well.
Well, that's what snapping turtles are.. Having a wide variety of diet including rodents, snakes, birds, raccoons, armadillos and even other turtles.. But including a porcupine on its diet was truly unexpected..
If you filmed this from a kayak then you are a very good photographer.
I saw the video Otter eats snapping turtle and thought poor turtle - now I think fck the turtles!
Collector Guy it's called nature
Same thing. :) Life is so versatile.
So the turtle should starve?
@@ashurafreedan clearly, it's an exaggeration and a joke. C'mon.
@@ashurafreedan - whatever! stick to fish ffs
I have a feeling the turtle bit off a foot and we couldn't see that and the porcupine was struggling as a result and that's why it did not flee and was relatively easy to catch him after the initial bite. It just seemed like the porcupine was struggling more than it should have been in that circumstance
Nah snapping turtles literally dont let go and are strong af. I dont think the porcupine could have got away if it wanted to
This is great video! Thanks for posting it. It really offers a new perspective to me as a paddler and environmental scientist. I feel that increased knowledge of animal behavior makes us all better ecologists.
Oops theres a meal I actually didnt want...lol didnt plan on eating a cactus.
Jajajjajaajajaja
Wow cool video. I guess who needs to go to Africa or India when you can see wildlife and fresh waters like this right there in Wisconsin?
Lp
Awesome. That porcupine was one surprised animal. That snapping turtle is awesome and probably the ruler of the pond.
thamnophis14 Yurtle the turtle, king of the pond.
@@dancepiglover until the otter murder snapping turtle like it was nothing haha
Yeah in a follow up vid in the same pond an otter completely mauls a snapping turtle, i think it was the same one
Joseph Lalhmachhuana thats not a adult aligator snaping turtle otter fanboy. a young common snapping turtle
This is an impressive video. I had no idea that snapping turtles were such determined predators!
THAT was one MONSTER HUGE snapping Turtle.
It's hard to tell in comparison how big that turtle is but it looks absolutely massive
This is a great video. You have some excellent footage here. Thank you for filming and uploading
Great nature moment there! Who knew that snapping turtles kill and eat porcupines? That turtle was huge!
I would never set foot in that pond with that big sucker in there...I might lose a foot.
Heather Talsma you should see an alligator snapping turtle they're 4 times that size
Dick McGee i grew up in SC and i put a broom stick to get the alligator snapper to bite it, and it literally made toothpicks of what was it the bite radius.
Dave Hartnett haha yeah I'm from Texas I've caught baby snapping turtles with my hand. They're amazing animals
Dick McGee dinosaurs if you wanna get down to it just raw instinct and power over time with evolving very little.
I have never seen an alligator snapper but from what I have read, they are quite a bit bigger than the common snapping turtle. I need to spend a little more time kayaking in the south to see one of those I guess.
This is an awesome video! :) I've been a Veterinary Technician specialized in exotic animals and wildlife for thirty+years and I never knew that porcupines placed themselves dead-in-water as an ambush predator. How long did that mofo hold his breath? "Prozac Porcupine" pretending to be the island in "Lost" even ignores the Snapping Turtle as it's so fixated on catching a fish and/or a crustacean. That's pretty much the same as you and I keeping cool and doing a dead-man's-float as sharks circle and poke at us!?!? That turtle was confused. He didn't know "WHAT" to make of this new floating 'bush!' This is incredible! You should be proud that you caught this on camera! :) A+ video! :)
Actually, I thought the same thing. I thought that the porcupine was eating something off the bottom because it kept moving slightly in the water. Then I realized that the porcupine was already dead and he movement was caused by the snapping turtle eating it from underneath. It was actually drowned early in the video.
+2kayakcampers Are you positive? I think that the snapping turtle is eating something out of the porcupine's mouth that the porcupine caught!?!? Otherwise, there would be a lot of thrashing, pulling, and, tearing; and, the porcupine, if even if dead, would be moving erratically. At this point, I'm not sure!?!?
+classiclistener01 At 5:37 into the video, you are looking at the head end of the porcupine and it is intact as far as I can tell. The entrails have been pulled out of the belly of the porcupine. How much thrashing about is related to the weight of the porcupine vs the size of the mouthful that the turtle is taking. I had a turtle take a chunk out of the web of my hand between the thumb and first finger. There was no tug at all he just bit it off. It was only an eight of an inch or so. Also, the porcupine is a herbivore so it only eats plants and would not have a fish or anything like that in its mouth. I am going to look it up but I do not think there is any protection on the belly of a porcupine. It would not make sense to have quills there because if they fall, and that does happen, the quills would probably puncture vital organs. Great question though!
Wow great footage! I can almost promise, that you guys witnessed the rarest thing you two will ever see in your lifetime when it comes to wildlife! Especially from beginning to end... Good luck topping that one! Thank you for sharing 👍
I have rehabbed a couple of snapping turtle hatchlings and they are actually terrible at catching fish. I assumed they must eat a lot of frogs and tadpoles or scavenge a lot of their food. I had heard of them eating ducklings but many ponds with turtles have ducks in them so I assumed that must be a rare event because ducks are wary. I had no idea they would hunt a large animal like this. Snapping turtles live in beaver ponds. I wonder if the beaver avoid them or harass them. Beaver are much bigger than porcupine and are very strong. There is so much going on we don't really know.
That was kinda random thoughts, but I'm with ya.
Seeing the quills in the turtles feet reminded me of a couple of questions I thought of right after I saw it. One was if this was the turtles first porcupine or if it had done this before. That turtle could have been 40 years old or more. The other question I had was if the turtle would get infections from the quills in its feet and neck. I don't think quills come out very easy. Maybe reptiles don't get infections?
2kayakcampers With having a zoom on your camera what is your reason coming in right on top of the turtle and bothering him? If you were the turtle would you have liked someone getting in your face as you did? You definitely did bother the turtle, every time the turtle surfaced and you made a noise he submerged. The video was good, and it would have been just as good shot from 10' away, and you would have not been rude with your intrusion.
The pictures of the porcupine where taken at a long distance so as not to disturb the little fella. After the turtle drowned the porcupine we realized that we were witnessing something that may not have ever been witnessed before, and had never been recorder before. All of the action that was going to occur after that point in time was going to be under water and the only way to photograph it was to get in close enough to be pointing the camera down into the water because of the logs and the reflection on the water. Without doing that, we would not know that the porcupine was successful in quilling the turtle and to what extent. We would also not know that the turtle was eating the porcupine and how they do that. He definitely knew I was there and realized that I was not a threat to him or he would not have continued eating. Did I disturb the turtle, a little bit I am sure, but in this particular case, I think it was justified. I have not seen any nature or guide book that lists porcupines as a food for snapping turtles.
I see "no" importance of "you" knowing if the porcupine was successful in quilling the turtle and to what extent. There are only (2) reasons an animal kills another animal, to eat or mate. What reason or purpose, for you, justified disturbing the turtle?
In my opinion, The turtle was not disturbed any more than a canoe disturbs the fish below or the bark of a neighbors dog disturbs the birds and squirrels in my prairie, walking on grass disturbs the worm below or mowing a lawn with a gas operated lawn mower that disturbs everything. It is not about what I know, the video is being looked at by the educational and scientific community and is adding one very small piece to mans understanding of nature. The more we understand and learn about nature the more we love it and are willing to protect it and the better we are able to pass that reverence on to the next generation. (Paraphrasing from Song of the paddle by Bill Mason)
Whiteprick Quit being a bitch.
**Time of actual attack: Approx **1:08**. It's difficult to figure out when the turtle attacked it, because there's no obvious visual appearance of the turtle when it attacks. All you see is the porcupine suddenly being pulled under the water by something.**
That is why we did not know exactly what was going on. Deer will walk out in fairly shallow water and eat the water plants. Sometimes they stick their whole head under. At first, I thought the porcupine had an injured left rear foot. Then when it went into the water, I thought, maybe it was doing the same thing. The first clue that there is a snapping turtle in the area is a webbed foot coming out of the water for a couple seconds and the going back down. The people watching the KZhead have the advantage of already knowing that a turtle was involved. With out that advanced knowledge, it is a long time before you see evidence of the turtle.
He took a right arm full of quills, think I saw a few,in his neck area too. Question is, how long did he live before infection set in on that limb and neck area. Phyric victory?
This is once in a lifetime extremely rare footage! What a rare opportunity to film something like this! A snapper going after a porcupine like this something one watching multiple snappers lifetimes would never ever see! You really need to copyright this, take it off KZhead and sell the footage to National Geographic or similar.
or just share with us instead of making it about money, it's nature and special but why monetize it. I appreciate the video thank you
How long was this turtle's shell would you say? And how big was it's head? I think you did the right thing filming it. the people saying you "disturbed" the turtle are idiots. If it was really bothered by you it would have stopped eating at a minimum. It seems these turtles do this more than people think. There are other videos of turtles attacking ducks and the like. They seem to know they can grab things and slowly but steady drag them to deeper water and drown them.
only a snapping turtle will look at a walking pin coushin and think "Hey, lunch!"
What's with the white stuff around the turtle's feet?
Damn! porcupine was like wtf! overconfident with his spiny armor. Den dat ninja moment! cue song at 0:30 How could this happen to me? I made my mistakes Got nowhere to run The night goes on As I'm fading away I'm sick of this life I just wanna scream How could this happen to me?Everybody's screaming I try to make a sound but no one hears me I'm slipping off the edge I'm hanging by a thread I wanna start this over again
derpfrog what the fuck
Shut the fuck up you autistic cringelord
@@Vntichrist 😅😅
Song by Simple Plan
well... should I say POORcupine? ye?
I grew up near there. Have seen some huge snappers on the Flowage. You guys were really back in the sloughs! Where did you put in?
Put in at the end of Murray landing road. Paddled west and then took the first arm north.
Totally amazing footage. I've never seen footage of a snapping turtle eating by taking out bites, even though I knew that they can. And I certainly never saw them eat porcupines. Also how the hell does a turtle get rid of those quills? It would take years to grow them out and I don't think the turtle has any way to remove them. I wonder if it's the first porcupine it ever ate and if it is, if it's the last one. Or if this porcupine is just one of many and the turtle found it can easily cope with a couple of quills for a months worth of food.
awesome footage! would love to capture footage like that.
Kellz Lefontae would love to capture you my darling
you're quills have no power here!
Your
Good point
Amazing footage! Have you shared it with Snapping turtle and Porcupine experts?
Absolutely great footage! Even dreaming I couldn't imagined I would be able to see that
DAMN NATURE, YOU SCARY
Are you a 12 year old with no imagination from 10 years ago?
Wait util the turtle runs into an otter😂😂
Ezamora Zamora 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
That footage was awesome, towards the end you can see that the turtle had porcupine quills on its right front foot. Great footage!
Incredible footage, and yes (no intervention) was the proper course of action. I've never seen a turtle (albeit a snapping turtle) attack and kill such large living prey before. But from what I can gather, it appears like the turtle bit the porcupine's back left leg and dragged him underwater.
Real life horror film for the porcupine.
yes then they just sat there they probably pushed it in the water they seen it was drowning and did nothing~! great photography watching something die
shut up pansey
There aren't too many predators that are immune to quills. I guess a turtle is one!
In regards to the quills in the turtle's right claw.The quills will work deeper into the flesh and the turtle does not have a thumb so the reptile may loose a claw to infection or gangrene.
According to some comments and some research, porcupine quills have disinfectant properties since porcupines sometimes fall out of trees and quill themselves. I have read that they do work their way in because of the barb . I don't know how far up the quill the barb is. Since it did not get scared off with the tail slapping, I wonder if he has had porcupine before...
The ability to come from below effectively negates the presence of the quills, since they don't cover the bottom. And the hard beak and tough skin are good defense against them as well. Very interesting encounter.
Chaotix Fox Turtle eats guts out of porcupine, otter eats guts out of turtle. All of nature is just one great big stomach transplant
The turtle was just as stupid. Look at all the quills stuck in its arm. He might have killed himself by eating them quills. There's no animal that has armor inside it's mouth and digestion system.
Yeah turtles and porcupines are some of the toughest animals to kill for predators, someone mentioned quills got into the turtle's leg. If it chomped down on some......it died in the process probably. Turtles have poor mobility, but protection underneath them which porcupines lack.
I just noticed that the turtle got quilled pretty bad on at least both front legs.
sevenrats looks like the turtle didn't feel a thing
why are they called snapping turtles? is it because they snap twigs etc?
Snapping turtles have what I would call a bad attitude when they are on land. They are not friendly and will use their sharp beak like mouth to bite hard. I tried to move a smaller one that was in the road about 10 years ago and had to give up. Very grumpy! When I was young, someone caught one in a fishing net on a small lake in central Wisconsin. It was a medium sized one and I grabbed it on both sides of the shell just in front of the back feet. His head started moving toward my hands. I figured that he would never reach my hands where the were on the back half of the shell. The neck kept coming ... and coming ... and coming...that rascal bit me in the web of my hand between the thumb and first finger. Took out a V shaped piece of my flesh! His neck was long enough to reach almost the length of his shell. It had the desired affect...I dropped him/her and he/she swam off.
Most turtles can pull their feet, tail and head inside the shell. Snapping turtles can not do that so they have developed a different defense mechanism. When I tried to move the snapping turtle off the road, I found out about it first hand. It happened so fast that I could not see exactly what it did, but I think it pulled its extremities in tight to the shell and then"snapped" them out with such speed and force that the jolt knocked him out of my hands. I think that is why the have that name.
+2kayakcampers Also, because they 'snap' like a snake...lightning fast. The best ways to pick up any turtle is four fingers under and thumb on top of its back end; if it's heavy, use both hands. Or, find a strong stick and when the turtle bites it, carefully pick it up. It usually won't let go until you put it down. That's how I had someone keep a large snapping turtle busy while I sutured a cut and fiberglassed its cracked shell. That bite you got must have required doctor's care...that's awful! I got bit by a baby eastern box turtle that didn't break the skin but it startled me and I dropped it.
Actually, it just took out a little eighth of an inch chunk. I must have been 13 or 14 at the time. Salve and a bandage and I am sure I was back in the canoe in minutes. Developed a love for the outdoors at a very young age and it never wore off. Now I just herd the turtle off the road or maybe lay down in the road to get a close up picture. I'll stick to picking up painted turtles. 😊
+2kayakcampers so why is it called a "snapping" turtle then???
Fishing in the Sudbury river in Mass, my friend and I saw a massive snapper. At first, we thought it's head was a stump sticking out of the water. We named it Bismark.
The jokes on the turtle once he starts shitting porcupine needles.
ok time for round 2...snapping turtle vs bazooka
That was a very large snapper that turtle could have made one great stew.
Come to think of it, my mom makes "Porcupine Meatballs". I hope this ain't my mom's dish.
Amazing footage thank you for sharing! You can tell that snapper owns that pond
Even more far fetched.... I once saw a snapping turtle send a car careening through the side of a house. Killed the turtle, the car, and the living room.
Amazing prehistoric like footage. Thanks! I noticed that the snapper had some quills stuck in him on his right front paw. I'm wondering if they are gonna eventually gonna fall off or if the porcupine will have the last laugh by them getting infected and eventually killing the snapper.
Note to self: Never, ever, skinny dip in Turtle Flambeau Flowage.
That turtle is a menace, who knew they can cause so much carnage in the woods?.. They should make a movie out of this guy... Call it "Snapper"
That has to be the biggest Common snapping turtle that I've ever seen.
Saw the headline, had to click.
Amazing footage!
He looked like he was going to ask "Pardon me, do you have any grey poupon?"
Fascinating video; thanks for posting. There is no reason to get too philosophical about this, really. For every act of predation people witness, there are countless others that are simply part of the great chain of life. While scenes like this are rarely photographed, I'm sure that raccoons, possums and other mammals have always been part a snapper's diet. I recently spent an hour observing and photographing a snapper that was constantly poking its head above water, and while the fascinating creature had no prey, one did not need to be told that it had to have eaten quite a few warm blooded creatures to get to be 2 1/2 feet long.
Excellent footage. These quills are useless when the underside of your body is grabbed from below. And thanks for not interfering like some ppl do
Now I don’t know who to pity anymore. A porcupine getting eaten by a snapping turtle or a snapping turtle getting eaten by a otter.
The birds are singing and we are witnessing the brutal carnage of nature!
This is why i don't feel bad when otters eat snapping turtles alive. Lol
If I remember right, snapping turtles will eat anything that moves in their waters. Was probably really hungry and didn't care what it found long as it could eat.
I once saw a massive rogue snapping turtle actually go after a cow once. Terrorized the entire county the entire summer. Farmers had to pony up and hire a professional snapping turtle hunter.
Pretty hard to keep your head out of the water with 30 lbs. of turtle latched on to your face. If someone told me this as a story i would have a hard time believing it, stunning video
I likeTaylor’s last two albums, but sometimes I miss the acoustic sound she perfected on Red.
And to think an otter has learned to beat the snapping turtles is amazing..otters rule!!
turtle says I don't care bout your quills, I got a shell
people who say to interfere are usually the same people who record people getting beat up and don't get involved
Amazing footage. People who do not understand how nature works, should not bother to comment.
Porcupine said "Look!!!!! I'm minding my own business here!?!!"
Snapping Turtle : Bitch... Why you watching me eat!
Never knew snappers would go for something so big, but porcupines are rodents who just expect their spiky pelts to protect them. Probably pretty easy prey for a reptile, compared to birds and fish who know about him already and are adapted to such a beast.
All reptiles are opportunistic feeders. Nice capture by the way!
Thanks!
the whole time I'm screaming: RUN PORCUPINE RUN!!
Turtle kills it and then sees what he has and says "never mind".
The difference is we have the ability to use our fingers, which allows us to manipulate physical shapes. The turtle only has it's beak so the chances of it eating the porcupine would be highly unlikely however, good point made!
TURTLE SAY ............................... PORCUPINE TASTE LIKE CHICKEN.
And the quills?
You wouldn’t think it could eat that and survive with all those quills.
Adds perfect sense to "I've got a turtle head poking out",,,LOL
For those not too acquainted with the outdoor world, that appears to be an alligator snapping turtle which is different from other species of snapping turtles. Alligator snapping turtles grow to be immense size, some as large as 150 to 200 pounds and live for decades, some up to 100 years old. They are an easy and overwhelming match for most things that venture into or close to the water. The porcupine had no chance at all once it was drug into the water as all the turtle had to do was use its size and weight to pull the porcupine under and drown it. These turtles, as all turtles, are predators and they kill and eat a variety of other animals. They are destructive creatures that do a lot of damage in the aquatic world by preying upon fish, frogs, birds, small animals, and also eat eggs of many other species. Turtles are not cute, cuddly creatures. They are vicious killers of other animals. What you saw in the video was exactly that. Porcupines, on the other hand, are not predators and don't kill other animals for food. They don't eat meat. They eat plants and other types of vegetation. Porcupines don't attack anything and are gentle creatures overall. Many people tend to love turtles and loath porcupines but it really should be the other way around. Finally, as is clearly seen in this video, the turtle has come into contact with the porcupine quills and has quite a few of them deeply embedded into its own flesh, such as on its feet and legs. This unfortunate choice of a porcupine may result in this being the turtle's last dinner. Porcupines are known carriers of rabies and that alone could cause a long, difficult death for the turtle. But also, the quills puncture the skin of the turtle deeply in many places allowing the natural bacteria in the water to easily get into the turtles body at many points. This will almost certainly cause infections at many puncture wounds that can also be severe enough to kill the turtle. Getting the quills out will be almost impossible for the turtle and as it brushes up against things it will push the quills in deeper and allowing blood to seep out thus weakening the turtle. It will take a fairly long time for the quills to deteriorate inside the turtle's body, thereby prolonging the chances for infection. This turtle might not die but it certainly is going to have a long period of pain related to its decision to attack a porcupine. Since the turtle isn't going to get veterinarian care, it will be lucky if it does live. That is if you can call living with a bunch of porcupine quills embedded in your body lucky!
Great comment! Actually, this was northern Wisconsin and it looked like a common snapping turtle. I have not seen the alligator snapping turtle except in guide books. I believe they are found in the southern states. I don't know if they are in northern Wisconsin or not. Another poster commented a long time ago that porcupine quills actually have some disinfectant properties. They said that porcupines are not the most agile climbers and sometimes will fall out of the tree and quill themselves. The disinfectant properties help them survive. I never researched that comment to see if I could find information to back it up but I probably should. I also do not know if there is a difference between warm blooded mammals and cold blooded reptiles when it comes to injuries and infections. This video just points out to me how little I know even after camping and paddling for 50+ years.
You are plenty knowledgeable, Sir. You are correct that if you were in Wisconsin there should be any alligator snapping turtles up there. Their zone is confined to basically below the Mason Dixon line, aka God's Country. Sorry, I couldn't resist that one. Alligator snappers can grow to massive size. They are amazingly big turtles and are truly a throw back to prehistoric times. Check out this video comparing the two species of turtles side by side. I think you will like it: kzhead.info/sun/dbarh82PaKFnbH0/bejne.html Turtles do have a blood supply and when cut or stuck can and will bleed. With so many quills bleeding and getting infections into the puncture wounds seems to be a concern. But they may have developed enough natural immunity over eons of existence to ward off most water borne infections they come in contact with so who knows, maybe that turtle will make it though his ordeal. We truly know so little about the animal kingdom and why certain things don't seem to harm certain animals. And maybe you are correct about the disinfectant properties of the porcupine quills. Like you, I have heard that story too but don't know if it is true. I do some free lance outdoor writing from time to time and may try to research to find out. One thing I would have done if I had been at the scene was to try to get the porcupine free. Whacking the snapping turtle hard enough on the nose or head repeatedly might have caused it to release its bite on the porcupine's foot. Once the snapping turtle latched on however it doomed the porcupine to its death. The weight of the turtle was far too heavy for the porcupine to pull it out of the water and there was no way that the porcupine had any chance battling with the turtle in the water. Sure the turtle has to eat to live, I get that. But it is a predator and, in the long run, predators are highly destructive creatures whose existence alters the balance in nature by removing too many of the defenseless plant eaters like the porcupine. Thus it becomes an ethical question similar to deciding that if a fox needs to eat too is it thus ok for it to kill the farmer's chickens....or your pet kitten? Predators kill and destroy other animals indiscriminately so in the end, a world having fewer predators gives the defenseless animals a chance to live out their lives to maturity. For that reason, I feel man has a role to help protect the defenseless critters from the predators and would have thus done my best to free the porcupine before it could be drowned. My rationale for that approach is the snapping turtle is omnivorous and can and does readily eat plants, insects, worms, etc. so it won't starve if it fails to eat that porcupine. It's world is thriving with plants it can eat without having to kill in a predatory manner. Great video however. Thanks for sharing it.
It is nice to have a conversation where we can discuss a topic where we have some areas of disagreement without name calling, swearing or the requirement to agree in the end. That way we learn about each others views and can give credit where it is due and maybe each of us moderates our views a little based on things we learn from each other. The first problem I would have had rescuing the porcupine was that all the trees that had blown into the bay kept me a distance away from the action. The video is taken with 35 and 50x super zoom cameras. When I did decide to approach, it took a very long time to get even a little close. It was like paddling a 16 foot kayak through a maze. The other issue was understanding what I was seeing. At first, it was just a porcupine walking on the floating downed log eating the plants growing up in the crevices in the log. The crevices make cool little planters. Then it looks like something is bothering it’s left rear foot. I though, maybe he has some water plant tangled around his foot. Then it looked like he may have fallen off the log. I did not know how deep the water was in his area. I even wondered if they would eat water plants sometimes. I have seen deer wade out into the water and stick their heads completely underwater to eat water plants. If you do not know the name and description of the video and do not slow it down or back it up, at what point do you see that a turtle is even there? The other thing is that the porcupine has very few enemies. There are places in Wisconsin where they are killing more trees than they should and it is upsetting the balance of nature. The predators are mostly gone and that is what happens. The same thing has happened to the deer population. Wolves, coyotes, bobcats, bears and many other animals are gone or greatly reduced and so the deer population is denuding the vegetation in many areas. They end up dying from diseases, starvation and car collisions. Hunting is helpful if done right. I am starting to change my stance on some of the hunting. Hunting for food is fine unless the hunters are passing up some deer and killing only the strongest deer with the biggest racks. In that case, they may be eliminating the best genes and reversing natures rule that the strong survive. Predators generally take out more of the weak animals. Some hunters take out the only the strong. Especially the trophy hunters. If the gene pool is weakened, you may get more animals dying from disease. We have a chronic wasting disease problem now. I think natural predators are part of the balance of nature and are required to keep the balance.
Sir, I fully agree with you in that the ONLY way progress is made in learning how to responsibly manage our planet is for people to be able to have sensible conversations about the topics and sort out the various different perspectives. I'd be proud to be on a team with you anytime to work for our obvious common interests in nature and our environment. Having said that, you did indeed share your perspective, which of course is FAR better than mine, of what was happening in that situation. You were there; I wasn't. And it is always easy to Monday morning quarterback as to what should have been done. Forgive me please for forgetting that judging actions of others requires knowing what they saw. Having read your assessment of the actual scene, and with the knowledge you shared of what has already happened in your locality to remove predators and upset the balance of nature, I'd side with you as to what you did once I gained this understanding. Thanks for sharing it with me, and more importantly, with viewers who likely do share opposing viewpoints on these topics. The situation is much different here in my locality due to a semi-tropical climate and environment which is rich in flora and fauna of all types. We have such a problem with some predator species, although not the snapping turtle, that for 6 species of animals there is never any time at all when they cannot be hunted or trapped in an effort to reduce their numbers. They can literally be taken 24/7/365, day or night by any legal means. Wild hogs, coyotes, fox, beavers, and two other species simply thrive to a point where they easily over populate the habitat. Snapping turtles are not quite a bad and thus there are regulations in place to limit the numbers that can be taken, being 4 common snapping turtles and 1 alligator snapping turtle per year per person. I both hunt and trap and can tell you all the hunting and trapping being done here isn't really helping all that much to control what has become an out of control situation. Wild hogs, for example, are doing immense destruction all over our state. The number of hunters and trappers diminish every year to the point where we no longer are very effective in controlling the population of any species. There's just not enough hunters, for instance, to deal with a population in our state of nearly 2 million deer. BTW, I am a traditional archer and do all my deer hunting using either a traditional bow or a crossbow, both of which are short range primitive weapons. I don't advocate killing anything without a legitimate purpose for doing so. In my case, I hunt deer for my food. Given how hard it is to kill a deer with primitive archery equipment, the last two years I haven't even gotten a chance to fire a single arrow at a deer, much less harvest one. But I have enjoyed the sport of the hunt each and every time I have had the chance to pursue a noble animal, be it deer, turkey, or whatever else. You raise a remarkably good point about how most hunters shooting for sport may be working to reverse the natural survival of the fittest principle that enhances the genes being passed on. I do some free lance outdoor writing and that's a point I have not ever seen anyone truly discuss. I don't know if hunters kill enough to make a serious change as in our state only about 20% of the deer are harvested each year. There should thus be enough of the strongest animals surviving to keep passing on good genes, I would think. What I do know is that if every hunter used traditional archery equipment and killed whatever deer they could legally harvest to eat rather than trying to shoot the biggest trophy, their wouldn't be much public opposition to hunting in this manner at all. Much of this entire topic really boils down to following good wildlife management principles. In our state at least, the game biologists do an extremely good job of managing all forms of wildlife to conserve the resources for future generations while balancing the interests of all segments of the public. If we are going to manage our planet responsibly it behooves all of us to learn as much as we can about nature and how it works, then to follow the best practices as recommended by professional biologists to preserve and enhance our natural resources. Finally, I did see all the debris you had to maneuver around and wondered how in the heck you even managed to get close enough to those animals to film that sequence. I do a lot of nature photography too and really didn't expect the typical scenic river paddlers to have the kinds of photography gear needed to get such amazing video. You did a remarkable job equal to what a professional would have done. Then again, maybe you ARE a professional. In any event, my hat's off to you for the great job you did on the video and in assessing whether or not to intervene in the situation.
Wow that's a gaint common snapper, not even a alligator snapper(which is more aggressive and has a nastier bite). Amazing! Thanks for sharing
Then again alligator snapper usually just hunt fish like and small animals so.....
Turtle has a "hand" full of quills at the end.
July 4th? how poetically appropriate!