Snappy

Yvonne G

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My snapper pond is pretty secure, far as the turtle escaping from it, that is. . . or, that's what I've always thought. I would have been hard pressed to figure out how she escaped if she ever turned up missing. But that was answered this evening when I went out to do my evening chores:

Snappy b.jpgSnappy.jpg

Snappy a.jpg

To catch the leaves from the mulberry tree in the fall I have plastic bird netting stretched across the water. Then after the leaves are gone, I just roll it up and it stays there along that far edge of the pond. I have no idea how on earth she got up there, but then I went to get her down, her claws were stuck. So maybe she just reached up and climbed. At any rate, I've now removed the plastic netting roll.
 

harris

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In North America, their climbing abilities are only rivaled by the NA Wood. But no species rivals the Chinese Bighead!
 

Markw84

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In North America, their climbing abilities are only rivaled by the NA Wood. But no species rivals the Chinese Bighead!
Actinemys marmorata Pacific Pond turtles are the best climbers I've seen. In the wild, I saw a Pacific Pond turtle climbing up an almost totally vertical waterfall. He was 12' high and almost to the top. It looked like almost sheer rock. I could not get up it. The test for security of any pond enclosure I ever built was to see if a Pacific Pond Turtle could get out.
 

Yvonne G

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Actinemys marmorata Pacific Pond turtles are the best climbers I've seen. In the wild, I saw a Pacific Pond turtle climbing up an almost totally vertical waterfall. He was 12' high and almost to the top. It looked like almost sheer rock. I could not get up it. The test for security of any pond enclosure I ever built was to see if a Pacific Pond Turtle could get out.
Yes, I had quite a few of them in my pond. The pond is fenced on two sides with a 6' solid redwood fence and the cross piece 2x4s are on the pond side. The other two sides are fenced with a step over fence that has a horizontal board across the top of it. Now-a-days at any one time, I can only ever count two of them.

Snappy wasn't trying to escape. She was just sitting there sunning herself. But now that she has found her 'sea legs' so to speak, I've got to assume she's going to try it again.
 

Markw84

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Yes, I had quite a few of them in my pond. The pond is fenced on two sides with a 6' solid redwood fence and the cross piece 2x4s are on the pond side. The other two sides are fenced with a step over fence that has a horizontal board across the top of it. Now-a-days at any one time, I can only ever count two of them.

Snappy wasn't trying to escape. She was just sitting there sunning herself. But now that she has found her 'sea legs' so to speak, I've got to assume she's going to try it again.
Snappers are quite good climbers. Expecially when young. As they gain size, the weight makes it less of a climber. Just like musk turtles are excellent climbers. Although they rarely go out of the water, the reduced plastron makes their limbs so much better adapted for climbing.
 
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