FULLERTON, Calif. – The legend of a vicious snapping turtle named “Old Bob” turned out to be true when workers hired to scoop fish from Laguna Lake pulled out the 50-year-old turtle on Thursday.
For 40 years, residents around the man-made lake had heard rumors about the alligator snapping turtle.
“No wonder folks get excited,” said Sharon Paquette, vice president of the Orange County chapter of the California Turtle and Tortoise Club. “It’s an awesome sight to see what looks like a prehistoric creature.”
Officials didn’t know how the giant turtle, normally found in the South and East Coast, got into the lake.
Alligator snapping turtles are the largest of all freshwater turtles in North America, growing up to 250 pounds and living longer than 100 years. The turtle has a wormlike tongue used to attract prey, a huge head with a hooked beak and a ridgelike shell.
The creature is illegal in California, Paquette said, because they breed and multiply easily with no predators to keep their population in check.
They’re also dangerous.
“These are powerful animals,” said Paquette, who plans to send “Old Bob” to a turtle preserve on the East Coast. “A human could lose a foot or fingers.”
Associated Press
A 100-pound alligator snapping turtle is carted away in a pickup after it was pulled from Laguna Lake in Fullerton, Calif. Residents had heard tales of the turtle, known as “Old Bob,” for 40 years.
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