R. K. Cook's video: Snapping Turtle Feeding In Little Cotton Indian Creek

HANK WILDING'S JOURNAL: Well, Ole Hank blew it this time! In my imagination, I tried to turn this big brute — observed in Henry County, Georgia's, Little Cotton Indian Creek one August 2015 evening — into a turtle species more exotic than what it is: a Common Snapping Turtle. Thanks to John Jensen, herpetologist and Senior Wildlife Biologist with the Nongame Conservation Section of Georgia's Department of Natural Resources for settin' me straight. Mr. Snapper was a big fellow — adults are generally 8-14 inches long and weigh from 10 to 35 pounds — but despite this loggerhead's fearsome reputation, he seemed genial enough, relaxing and feeding on tufts of vegetation. (They also eat just about anything else they can get their powerful jaws on, including birds, fish, reptiles, mammals, aquatic invertebrates and carrion — you know, dead critters.) If I'd encountered him on land, it might have been a different story. Mr. Snapper will stand his ground, hoisting his hindquarters in the air with jaws open wide … and lunge! Trust me, folks, you don't want to be in his way. Now get off your keister and go wilding!