A turtle is in my pond....

[roujesky]

My small pond (about 100 * 150 feet) now has a turtle in it. I am a live and let live kind of guy, UNLESS he endangers my fingerling bluegill and channel cats [img]/forums/images/icons/confused.gif[/img] Should I leave him alone or is he a pest?

thanx

[Fishman]

Well, even if he's a snapping turtle, your fish are pretty safe. Most other turtles are omnivorous, and generally prefer vegetation to anything else. Of course, if you are feeding your fish, they do love those little pellets. I'd say live and let live unless they start bothering you for some reason.

If they do, you can buy a turtle trap that allows you to release them unharmed. Aquatic Ecosystems is on the net and they sell a nice one for a bit over $100.

[CarlUman]

If you like fishing a snapper will scare fish off... snapper = no bites

[Bird]

Carl, I don't know what part of the country you're in, or what kind of fishing you do, but I've fished for catfish, both with rod & reel and with trotlines where there were lots of snapping turtles. I caught a lot of fish and several turtles that way. The worst problem we ever had with turtles was when we'd sometimes get a catfish on the trotline at night and when we run it the next morning, find that all we had left was a catfish head because the turtles had eaten the rest of the fish.

[Stoneheartfarm]

Worst problem I've ever had fishing where turtles are, is getting them off the hook after they take the bait. Not necessarily fun trying to catch an angry slider that is crawling around the bottom of the boat.

Steve

[CarlUman]

I guess I'm thinking smaller fish like blue gill or 1-2lbs cats. They just don't seem to bite as well. Maybe it's just bad timing. I've had bullhead bit like crazy (difficult to man two poles) then just all at once stop (not a single bite in over a half hour). I always suspected a snapper but could be wrong [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Stoneheartfarm]

I've watched snappers and schools of fingerling perch. Don't know if they were actually catching and eating them, but the water boils with small fish and then a big old snapper surfaces. Maybe the turtle was eating them, or maybe it was just stirring up food for the small fishes.

Steve

[Pat]

I don't think you mentioned the species of turtle or described its looks and size. A common aquatic turtle here is the redear which is carnivorous when young , omnivourous for a while and then when fully mature they are STRICT vegetarians.

Pat [img]/forums/images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[tsterkel]

"turtles only hurt your feelings..."
A quote used frequently by the pond experts at the DoA workshops. [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]