A Minnesota woman and her daughter were shocked during a fishing trip when they encountered a huge turtle trying to steal her fish.
Shala Holm shared pictures of the amazing aquatic turtle on Facebook after finding it during a trip.
Holm told Newsweek, “We were staying at a resort on the Mississippi River, Niemeyer’s Rugged River Resort, which we’ve been going to for the past 10 years as a family.”
Images of the giant tortoise seen in the Mississippi River by Shala Holm and her daughter.
Shala Holm
The family owns a Hobie tandem kayak and often takes it out on fishing trips.
“My daughter and I decided to go out and fish for panfish, sunfish, and catfish and it was a little windy so we set up on the river bank,” Holm said. “We had caught several fish and had a fishing basket hanging on the side.”
But as they paddled through the river water, Holm’s daughter suddenly noticed something different.
“My daughter said, ‘Mom, mom, shut up, I feel something breathing,'” she said.
As they looked around to see if there was a deer on the bank or another animal nearby, what they saw next was a complete shock. “All of a sudden we saw this moose coming from the shore toward our kayak. It came up to the kayak, dived in, and grabbed onto the fishing basket,” Holm recalled.
Watching the water, they noticed that a huge common snapping turtle had stumbled upon their boat and tried to take advantage of the pre-caught fish.
A species of large freshwater turtle, the loggerhead turtle is found from southeastern Canada to Florida.
Common in the Mississippi River, these animals can grow very large and have been recorded at over two feet when fully grown. The average weight varies between 10 and 35 pounds.
Often seen crossing roads during the spring season, they move slowly between wetlands but are famous for their powerful jaws and highly mobile head and neck.
The average life expectancy of a common snapping turtle in the wild is not well known, but a study from a park in Ontario, Canada, suggested a maximum age of over 100 years.
Holm had to fight the creature to keep hold.
“I pulled the basket out of the water and he clung to it,” Holm recalled. “I mean, I could hardly lift the basket because it was so big, but I was able to get it off of me and I was really scared, my heart was racing. So we left.”
That night back at the resort they told their family all about the chance encounter. Hard to explain and almost unbelievable, Holm decided he would need more evidence.
“The next evening, I told my daughter to go back and see if that turtle doesn’t come back,” she said.
In the same place as before, the couple put some fish in the fishing basket, and amazingly, the turtle returned a second time.
“We were very surprised,” Holm laughed. “I had come back the second night and done exactly the same thing. But I had my wits about me and I was able to take the pictures.”
Armed with a photo, Holm shared the turtle with the local department of natural resources. “All they could tell from the picture was that she was at least 15 years old, but she could be as old as 30,” Holm said.
“His claws were probably as big as my fist,” Holm said. “And then add those claws… It was big and heavy.”