Plainfield, Illinois police are asking residents to leave the handling of snapping turtles to professionals. Last week, police said they received numerous calls reporting the reptiles in yards or in the street.
“We are receiving calls about them in yards and on the roads. It’s their mating season, they come out of the water lookin’ for love. If they are a traffic hazard, call. Let us help them across the road. We don’t want you to get hurt.”
Yes, leave the slow-moving lovers to their dirty, dirty business. They do not take kindly to being interrupted. According to Creature Control, “snappers can reach their heads all the way to their hind legs to bite. Their jaws are extraordinarily powerful and capable of completely severing a human finger.”
Plainfield PD also shared video of someone intentionally being bitten by a snapping turtle as a demonstration of how stupid it is to try to handle one yourself.
