How can I tell if there are snapping turtles in my pond?

Question

We have a football field sized pond that my husband dug about 7 years ago. It is spring fed, and has always been crystal clear. We have had problems with Geese every spring, but this spring, the geese mysteriously left of their own accord (usually my husband has to harrass them daily until they leave). The water is unusually cloudy, and I'm afraid either the geese brought in an undesirable fish, or there are snappers that are stirring up the muck on the bottem, and possibly even scared away the geese. How can I tell if it's a snapper? I already have read the sites that tell how to build traps to relocate, I just want to know what is some possible evidence, if any, of a snapper?

Answer 1

it would take an awful lot of snappres to muddy up a pond. i woul rathe believe someone put some carp or catfish in your pond. i hop[e for your sake they arent carp they multiply like crazy. they will rob the food source for all the other fish.

Answer 2

Lucky you, getting rid of the geese.

I frequently don't know what turtles are in a pond until I set traps. It's not a bad idea; you get all sorts of information from what you trap. If you have carp or catfish, they will show up and you can continue to trap to get rid of them or at least lower the population. If there are turtles, you can find out. I'd save them to work as your pond's cleanup-squad. They probably had nothing to do with the geese leaving but they do polish off sick fish for you. You also get a hint as to the relative numbers of bass and food fish and can remove the latter to try to keep the pond in balance.

The cloudiness is possibly related to the excess fertilizer from the geese, which may also have resulted in your filamentous alga problem.

Answer 3

Take your shoes off ad put yuor toes in the water and wait! :)

Seriously, the best way woud be to by some commercial turtle food and put it out as bait (may be with a secruity cam focused on it. A bit expensive.

But what you're describing doesn't sound like fish or turtles--it sounds like you have some sort of marine plant--algae, etc. Take a sample of the waer and have it tested.

Answer 4

i have a snapping turtle.

the best way is to write in snapping turtle under pictures and see if they look like that.

Answer 5

Snapers leave a distenct trail or track with a line in the middel of it from their tail. They also leave a bourogh mark in the mud.

Answer 6

well, turtles re- surface for air, so have a rifle at hand with a scope and solve your problem one shot at a time.