The Civil War News & Views Open Discussion Forum

Last casualty... a snapping turtle?

Here is a local news story that seems surreal and far fetched and yet it is definately on topic for this message board. It was announced Friday by the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Agency that a turtle, believed to have been shot during or shortly after the WBTS, was found alive. It seems the LDW&F have been trapping and collecting Alligator Snapping Turtles for research for about the last 3 months. Sone of their traps were located in the Atchafalaya River near Krotz Springs.

Saturday they caught one in one of the traps near Krotz Springs that will likely be the new state record for one of these creatures. It was weighed in at over 280 pounds! Sadly, he did not survive his trip to the holding area where researchers were waiting to take possession of him. An autopsy was performed to study the beast and while this may stretch your faith in the press it was reported that a lead slug was found and removed from his shell that appears to be a match for a .58 Cal bullet and would date the wounding as either during the WBTS or shortly after.

When I was a kid I remember old folks talking about sometimes finding flint tip arrowheads in turtle shells. Those went out of use around here in the early 1800s. Some folks claim finding these arrowheads in turtle shells were reported as late as the 1950s. There are reports of a whale being killed during the 1990s that had the tip of a harpoon still in him. The tip was dated from the mid 19th century.

Nobody knows how old these turtles get so maybe this one was indeed alive when Banks and Taylor were slugging it out. Maybe some Yankee friend of Lincoln fired the slug the old turtle has been toting around all these years. Maybe some young Reb was hungry and tried to get a little turtle soup going. In any event, farewell old turtle. If only we could know what you saw in your lifetime.

Messages In This Thread

Last casualty... a snapping turtle?
I liked that *NM*
Re: Last casualty... a snapping turtle?
Re: Last casualty... a snapping turtle?
Re: Last casualty... a snapping turtle?
Re: Last casualty... a snapping turtle?
Re: Last casualty... a snapping turtle?
Re: Last casualty... a snapping turtle?
Re: Last casualty... a snapping turtle?
Re: Last casualty... a snapping turtle?
Re: Last casualty... a snapping turtle?
Re: Last casualty... a snapping turtle?
Re: Last casualty... a snapping turtle?
Re: Last casualty... a snapping turtle?