Seen on the internets
It never occurred to me that turtles would eat birds. Really stupid birds:
26 Responses to “Seen on the internets”
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January 19th, 2010 at 11:33 am
Snapping turtles are the polar bears of the turtle crowd. They will (try to)eat anything that comes close to their mouths.
January 19th, 2010 at 11:34 am
That is one quick turtle. Apparently he goes more for the action beats reaction than that slow and steady philosophy.
January 19th, 2010 at 11:40 am
that did not look like a snapping turtle to me.
January 19th, 2010 at 11:51 am
All you need is a 100% success rate with your attacks, no survivors to tell the tale.
A bit like the “never been an unprovoked fatal wolf attack” story.
January 19th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
Looks like a young snapper to me..and those guys are VERY quick on the “lunge and bite”.
But those birds are so stupid I’ve backed over TWO of them with my truck in the last few years.
January 19th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
Seems only fair, birds eat baby turtles
January 19th, 2010 at 12:49 pm
Mostly, birds eat turtle babies as they come out of the egg on the beach. Good to see turnaround.
January 19th, 2010 at 12:59 pm
The bird made the first aggressive move – Obviously, self defense.
January 19th, 2010 at 1:09 pm
I agree, it was self defense
January 19th, 2010 at 1:43 pm
The turtle dragging the bird down to drown it is what makes the vid for me.
January 19th, 2010 at 2:33 pm
I’m pretty sure that pond has a the Castle Doctrine. I just hope the DA sees it as a righteous kill. Hopefully the turtles got insurance.
January 19th, 2010 at 2:51 pm
pigeon should be packing
January 19th, 2010 at 3:16 pm
Didn’t look like a snapping turtle to me either. The rear margin of the shell is smooth rather than toothed. I’ve heard of them grabbing ducklings while they’re swimming but never on land like that. Kewl.
Eagle 1
January 19th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Snapping_Turtle
Common Snappers are smaller and have smooth shells than the Alligator Snapper.
The size of the head really points to snapper for me.
January 19th, 2010 at 3:41 pm
They’re coming right for us… /south-park
January 19th, 2010 at 3:54 pm
Looks shopped.
January 19th, 2010 at 4:51 pm
“It never occurred to me that turtles would eat birds. Really stupid birds”
Not sure I’d call the birds stupid. It probably just never occurred to them either.
January 19th, 2010 at 5:34 pm
i dunno. maybe effective camouflage. bird probably looked at his buddy and said ‘hey ralphie, I’m gonna go see why that rock is moving’
January 19th, 2010 at 6:26 pm
It’s a segment from a nature show on Africa.
The lake they are living in is shrinking due to a local drought, so the turtles are starving, and the birds have no other source of water available … so both critters are desperate, not stupid.
January 19th, 2010 at 6:29 pm
Stupid birds taste the best.
January 19th, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Ah, interesting clarification, Kris.
January 19th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
Adult ducks with clipped wings kept disappearing on a golf course pond that I grew up near. Snappers. The Alligator ones are opportunistic feeders that lure fish in, but the common ones can be pretty aggressive.
January 19th, 2010 at 9:43 pm
Snapping turtle,’round here we have more than one type. The mud turtles are a lot flatter, but BIGGER. More yellow in color. And the bites are equal. I have no research to support my antidotes, I just don’t like being bitten by turtles.
—
Little Jerry
January 19th, 2010 at 10:39 pm
Bernd Heinrich has a good story about a snapper capturing a full-grown goose in his book ‘Winter World’ (highly recommended BTW). The turtle just closes its mouth on the bird’s leg and sets about trying to drown it. It can’t get the bird under but the bird can’t get away either. So it just stays there. For hours.
January 20th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
What I’m going to say is rude, but I’ll say it anyway.
“Really stupid birds” is a very telling opinion on your mindset in the “Cycle of Life” thing. The bird was no more stupid than any other creature that gets killed and eaten by another – and *lots* of them do. I’d say most aren’t stupid.
Time for a compassion check, Uncle. Feeling a bit negative lately?
’cause a guy like me looks at that and thinks “Really clever turtle”.
/end rude
January 20th, 2010 at 2:56 pm
I dunno. Seems to me that the turtle wasn’t trying to be very stealthy and the bird walked right up to it.
I presume Kristopher’s explanation is correct. Or Nick’s probably is 😉