Mother-Daughter Duo Get Up Close And Personal With Giant Snapping Turtle

When you are out kayaking, you never quite know what to expect. Sometimes you will just enjoy the scenery but at other times, a surprise may happen.

That is exactly what took place with Shala Holm when she and her family were vacationing at Niemeyer’s Rugged River Resort. The incident took place in July, but it was something that they will remember for a lifetime. Thankfully, they also took pictures and shared them as well.

Photo: flickr/Don and Janet Beasley License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0

According to Yahoo!News, when she was riding a tandem paddle kayak with her daughter and fishing for crappies, they heard something in the water. Suddenly, a snapping turtle grabbed hold of her fish basket and gave them both a surprise visit.

According to the outlet, Holm said the snapping turtle was about 100 years old. It was a large turtle, and it took a while for her to shake him off.

Although they were frightened by the initial meeting, they did go back later to see if they could get some pictures. She later posted their experience on Facebook, saying: “He didn’t disappoint us. This is what I saw when I was going to put another fish in the basket. I was quite startled!”

Half of the snapping turtle was lifted up out of the water and you can see its claws and large head. In Minnesota, the snapping turtle is the largest turtle out there with a shell that can be up to 14 inches wide and a body that can weigh up to 35 pounds.

Fortunately, they were probably not in much danger. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources said that snapping turtles can be aggressive on land but they are typically “docile in the water.”

They also corrected Holm on the age, saying that the turtle was likely about 15-30 years old.

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