General Care Discussion :: crab trap as a turtle trap???

[jasoncop954]

hello I am wondering if I can use a crab trap as a turtle trap

[justatwinturbo]

now you want to start trapping turtles? for what purpose?

[jasoncop954]

lmao

[justatwinturbo]

Yep, lyao. You are everything that is wrong with this hobby

[ljapa]

I'll probably regret this in the morning.

This forum is a wonderful, friendly place. There's an incredible diversity of people. Diversity of age. Diversity of location. But, we're all here because of a love of turtles.

My son has had his turtle about a year. A year and a half ago, if you'd told me I'd fall in love with a cold-blooded reptile that will probably outlive me, I'd have laughed in your face. But here I am, glad that my son shares that feeling so I know that a pet that will outlive me will be cared for. And, I'm just a few years shy of 50, so I'm not planning on being gone any time soon. But there are many stories here of RES that have lived past 40 years.

I may be almost half a century old, but I also remember being a teenager. When I was in junior high, we lived on a river. (Quick turtle story: the river had snappers. Huge snappers. I remember watching a gigantic one lay 78 eggs in a nest in our yard one year. I counted.) I didn't have the respect for animals that I do now. I shot frogs with bb guns, kept tadpoles in a wash barrel where most of them died in the heat.

I didn't want that. I wanted to see the miracle of these little eggs turning into leopard frogs or bullfrogs, but I wasn't able to realize that there is a level of husbandry necessary if I am going to involve myself in that. The thing I most regret now was the bullhead catfish.

The river had a mud bank that sloped into a sand bar where we'd go swimming. In the spring, the bullhead would build tunnels into the bank where they would watch over their eggs. They weren't in season then. The tunnels were easy to see. My friend and I would take a net. We'd go wading. One of us would hold a net over the tunnel, the other would stomp above the mud on the bank behind it. The female would rush out into the net and we'd eat her. It was the easiest "fishing" I ever did.

The thing I realize now is that each of those single fish I cooked, represented hundreds of fry that were wiped out with that stomp. Sure, most of them would have been eaten by the snapping turtles and other fish. Perhaps a dozen or so would have made it to adulthood--but that doesn't make it better, it makes it worse. That means I was depriving the snapping turtles of food as well as decimating the bullhead population.

What I'm trying to say is that I'm probably a crotchety old fart now, but I do remember what it was like to be young and exploring the wildlife I could catch on a riverbank. I can't throw stones because I'm guilty too.

However, I also can't just stay quiet. Remember how I started this with the awareness that I have an animal in my care that will likely outlive me? All turtles have long lives. And, older females don't drop fewer eggs as they age, they actually drop more as they get larger. Wiping out 20 females that aren't yet able to lay eggs will not have the impact on a wild population that taking one of the oldest females will.

jasoncop954, your posts show you have a passion for these creatures. That's great! I think most of us frequenting this forum wished more people had a passion for turtles.

Unfortunately, your passion seems mercurial. You don't give the sense that you want to really spend the time and understand the care necessary for a turtle. Instead, it seems to me that you think they're cool, that you spend a week or two excited about one and then want to have another and another and another. Now, it's possible that is just me reading too much into your posts. As I write this, you've made 102 posts. I'll bet that this one post of mine has more text in it than your 102. That's not a criticism. I'm a crotchety old fart and you're a teenager who's supposed to be exploring the world, testing new experiences. What I mean is that your posts don't offer much, so we have to guess the backstory and why you are asking what you are asking.

What I'm trying to say, in a long-winded, crotchety way is that I think your posts raise a concern in many posters here that your zeal is doing more harm than good.

But, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying your should curb your zeal or stop caring for your turtles. Honestly, I hope that you can mature your zeal a bit, realize that there is an effect for pulling these turtles out of the wild, and that you have a responsibility to properly care for them.

Heck, I found this zeal after nearly a half a century. You've got it before you are even out of school. It's very possible you could turn this passion into a career as a biologist who specializes in turtles. You could turn your passion into a job where you get paid to do the stuff you love and contribute far more than anyone on this forum to the long term maintenance of the species.

That's why I'm not posting to say you shouldn't stop working with turtles but to say you should think about what is going to happen to your turtles when they hit their middle age 20 years from now.

[jasoncop954]

ljapa you are right i am learn and keep learning i have a passion for turtles and i am trying my best to stop taking them from the wild thanks

[AlexisAwesome]

i know i might break a rule here but i cant hold it.

you should not own a turtle. none at all. if you cant take care of one or are taking one from the wild, that's sick. you cant even take care of one so why would you go the the wild when you cant do that? its gonna die in two ways. and the main one is because you don't know how to take care of one.

[vear]

I'll probably regret this in the morning.

This forum is a wonderful, friendly place. There's an incredible diversity of people. Diversity of age. Diversity of location. But, we're all here because of a love of turtles.

My son has had his turtle about a year. A year and a half ago, if you'd told me I'd fall in love with a cold-blooded reptile that will probably outlive me, I'd have laughed in your face. But here I am, glad that my son shares that feeling so I know that a pet that will outlive me will be cared for. And, I'm just a few years shy of 50, so I'm not planning on being gone any time soon. But there are many stories here of RES that have lived past 40 years.

I may be almost half a century old, but I also remember being a teenager. When I was in junior high, we lived on a river. (Quick turtle story: the river had snappers. Huge snappers. I remember watching a gigantic one lay 78 eggs in a nest in our yard one year. I counted.) I didn't have the respect for animals that I do now. I shot frogs with bb guns, kept tadpoles in a wash barrel where most of them died in the heat.

I didn't want that. I wanted to see the miracle of these little eggs turning into leopard frogs or bullfrogs, but I wasn't able to realize that there is a level of husbandry necessary if I am going to involve myself in that. The thing I most regret now was the bullhead catfish.

The river had a mud bank that sloped into a sand bar where we'd go swimming. In the spring, the bullhead would build tunnels into the bank where they would watch over their eggs. They weren't in season then. The tunnels were easy to see. My friend and I would take a net. We'd go wading. One of us would hold a net over the tunnel, the other would stomp above the mud on the bank behind it. The female would rush out into the net and we'd eat her. It was the easiest "fishing" I ever did.

The thing I realize now is that each of those single fish I cooked, represented hundreds of fry that were wiped out with that stomp. Sure, most of them would have been eaten by the snapping turtles and other fish. Perhaps a dozen or so would have made it to adulthood--but that doesn't make it better, it makes it worse. That means I was depriving the snapping turtles of food as well as decimating the bullhead population.

What I'm trying to say is that I'm probably a crotchety old fart now, but I do remember what it was like to be young and exploring the wildlife I could catch on a riverbank. I can't throw stones because I'm guilty too.

However, I also can't just stay quiet. Remember how I started this with the awareness that I have an animal in my care that will likely outlive me? All turtles have long lives. And, older females don't drop fewer eggs as they age, they actually drop more as they get larger. Wiping out 20 females that aren't yet able to lay eggs will not have the impact on a wild population that taking one of the oldest females will.

jasoncop954, your posts show you have a passion for these creatures. That's great! I think most of us frequenting this forum wished more people had a passion for turtles.

Unfortunately, your passion seems mercurial. You don't give the sense that you want to really spend the time and understand the care necessary for a turtle. Instead, it seems to me that you think they're cool, that you spend a week or two excited about one and then want to have another and another and another. Now, it's possible that is just me reading too much into your posts. As I write this, you've made 102 posts. I'll bet that this one post of mine has more text in it than your 102. That's not a criticism. I'm a crotchety old fart and you're a teenager who's supposed to be exploring the world, testing new experiences. What I mean is that your posts don't offer much, so we have to guess the backstory and why you are asking what you are asking.

What I'm trying to say, in a long-winded, crotchety way is that I think your posts raise a concern in many posters here that your zeal is doing more harm than good.

But, don't get me wrong. I'm not saying your should curb your zeal or stop caring for your turtles. Honestly, I hope that you can mature your zeal a bit, realize that there is an effect for pulling these turtles out of the wild, and that you have a responsibility to properly care for them.

Heck, I found this zeal after nearly a half a century. You've got it before you are even out of school. It's very possible you could turn this passion into a career as a biologist who specializes in turtles. You could turn your passion into a job where you get paid to do the stuff you love and contribute far more than anyone on this forum to the long term maintenance of the species.

That's why I'm not posting to say you shouldn't stop working with turtles but to say you should think about what is going to happen to your turtles when they hit their middle age 20 years from now.

I didn't see this thread until today,but that's beautifully said ljapa.