Ammo For Sale

« « I hear there’s an election? | Home | More SHOT Coverage » »

Seen on the internets

It never occurred to me that turtles would eat birds. Really stupid birds:

26 Responses to “Seen on the internets”

  1. emdfl Says:

    Snapping turtles are the polar bears of the turtle crowd. They will (try to)eat anything that comes close to their mouths.

  2. A Horse Thief Says:

    That is one quick turtle. Apparently he goes more for the action beats reaction than that slow and steady philosophy.

  3. SayUncle Says:

    that did not look like a snapping turtle to me.

  4. Mu Says:

    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.

  5. Hartley Says:

    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.

  6. Madrocketscientist Says:

    Seems only fair, birds eat baby turtles

  7. nk Says:

    Mostly, birds eat turtle babies as they come out of the egg on the beach. Good to see turnaround.

  8. Mik Says:

    The bird made the first aggressive move – Obviously, self defense.

  9. Jennifer Says:

    I agree, it was self defense

  10. Weer'd Beard Says:

    The turtle dragging the bird down to drown it is what makes the vid for me.

  11. AJ187 Says:

    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.

  12. DAD Says:

    pigeon should be packing

  13. Eagle 1 Says:

    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

  14. Weer'd Beard Says:

    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.

  15. aczarnowski Says:

    They’re coming right for us… /south-park

  16. Gregory Morris Says:

    Looks shopped.

  17. Nick Says:

    “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.

  18. SayUncle Says:

    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’

  19. Kristopher Says:

    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.

  20. Azul Says:

    Stupid birds taste the best.

  21. AJ187 Says:

    Ah, interesting clarification, Kris.

  22. Ahmar-neck Says:

    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.

  23. Jerry Says:

    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

  24. Benjamin Says:

    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.

  25. _Jon Says:

    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

  26. SayUncle Says:

    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 😉

Remember, I do this to entertain me, not you.

Uncle Pays the Bills

Find Local
Gun Shops & Shooting Ranges


bisonAd

Categories

Archives