“Snappy” at Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary
Yes, sleet and snow fell this morning. Yes, ice edges the salt marsh channels along the Outer Cape. Yes, it’s still deep winter outside.  Yet, inside Mass Audubon‘s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, summer never ends for Snappy, the extremely fortunate snapping turtle hatchling serendipitously chosen to star as the signature critter in the fresh water display tank. Snappy is simply thriving, growing as fast as the food supply allows. True, fish can no longer occupy the same tank as Snappy. Well, not completely accurate; they can occupy the tank with Snappy for a little while, and then they can occupy the less spacious tank inside Snappy’s tummy for a lot longer.
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“Snappy” Struts His Stuff
No matter the temperature outside nor our temperment inside, a visit to Snappy at the Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary brings a warm, summer feeling with bright hopes for the spring season just one month away. When you see Snappy, tell him the Turtle Journal sent you. Oh, we recommend that like the fish, you stay out of the tank.
For earlier reports on snappy, see Meet “Snappy†at Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary and http://www.turtlejournal.com/?p=1609.
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[…] Snappy, the star reptile in the fresh water tank at Mass Audubon’s Wellfleet Bay Wildlife Sanctuary, offered a practical lesson last Friday on how not to handle a snapping turtle when attempting to relocate it from one place to another. It’s all a question of the turtle’s “business end.” How long is a snapping turtle’s neck and how far down its shell can that neck be stretched? Clearly, it’s best to learn these lessons with a young juvenile as teacher. While an adult snapping turtle would teach the same subject, its lesson might be a tad more permanent. […]