Rose Cottage Ltd

I normally try to let the wildlife that exists on my property do its own thing. Other than chasing squirrels out of my bird feeders, I figure Mother Nature knows best. But there is one instance where I do interfere – when it comes to the showdown between goslings and the (at least) one monster snapping turtle I have in my lake.

Here are the potential victims:

And here is the aggressor:

Two turtles were captured, moved, and released in 2010. No sightings were made in 2011, but I saw one floating on top of the water in the sun about a month ago – right off the shoreline from a goose nest. If I can humanely catch it and remove it – off it will go. These turtles have an amazing life span, and the ability to survive in a hostile world that one still has to admire. I’m guessing the weight of the individuals already removed from the lake at somewhere around 60 pounds – each.

However, there is a huge state lake nearby that should provide them plenty of better feeding opportunities than to feast on the little goslings. One goose soul of the initial 2012 six goslings has already gone missing and their lives are filled with enough natural and human predators already. Wish me, and the goslings luck. I’ve had the trap in the lake for over a week and so far, have not lured the turtle inside the trap. Every time I see the 2012 goose family head down to the deeper end of the lake, I cringe.

More on my turtle-trapping episode of 2010 in my post entitled, “Monster Turtles.” The 2010 turtles, which were moved to a huge lake about 15 miles from here, had been caught – using a chicken thigh as bait, in the turtle trap. You can find info on where I bought the trap and a picture of it out of the water here.