Blue Ridge Wildlife Center Patient of the Week: Common Snapping Turtle

Shooting Turtles is a Crime.

This Snapping turtle patient was brought to the Center after being found with multiple gunshots.

To make matters worse, this is a gravid female (carrying eggs); you can see the eggs in the x-ray below. These adult breeding animals are especially important from a population survival standpoint.

Snapping turtles are a protected species in Virginia. Unfortunately, we see intentional human-caused trauma, including gunshots, every year in this species. Luckily, these gunshot wounds were fresh and only into the bone of the carapace (upper shell). She does not appear to have damaged internal organs. The steel pellets were removed, the wounds cleaned, and pain medications and antibiotics provided.

Now, after about a week in care, this turtle was released back to her found location! We hope she will continue to thrive, lay her eggs, and avoid the world’s most dangerous species—humans.

This wildlife crime has been reported, and our Conservation Police Officers are investigating. If you see someone commit a wildlife crime, please report it as soon as possible. In Virginia, it can be reported to our Department of Wildlife Resources at WildCrime@dwr.virginia.gov, or you can contact them by phone at 1-800-237-5712.

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