Sewer lagoon turtles

I got a call from a company today to remove snapping turtles from their sewer lagoons. Does anyone have any pointers on how to get them out this time of the year? Normally I would just trap them out, but they don't respond to bait right now. I was thinking of putting a canoe in and dipping them out with a net. The ponds have a hard rubber liner in them and the water line is down about six feet with about five feet of water. Has anyone worked with these types of lagoons?

My Lagoons are clay liners. I am sure there will be sludge on the bottom that the turtles will hide in. It will make it hard to dip them out if you can find them. Care must be taken not to tear the lagoon liner. Care must be taken with the methane off gassing when you start stirring up the sludge. Breathing to much of it can make you light headed and pass out. Flat bottom boat would be better then a canoe for that reason.
Dave

Contact a couple of turtle farms in your state and ask them. Or a farm in an ajoining state.

Was it me, I'd go with floating repeaters. Don't really need bait, as they will climb aboard to sun.

These lagoons are about a year old so I'm hoping there won't be too much muck on the bottom. The turtles are in the last stage of the lagoon so I'm hoping there won't be too much on the bottom either.

Snappers aren't basking turtles like sliders are.

May be more information than you want, maybe not..
http://www.trapperman.com/forum/ubbthrea...urt#Post4364112

http://www.trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/3943766/Re:_Ohio_turtle_trappers#Post3943766

http://www.trapperman.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/4372557/Trapping_Snapping_Turtles#Post4372557

Road Trip

Seine net.

Pull them out by hand if you know where they are denning up.

Is there a reason they need to be taken right now for damage or something this winter. I would try to get an annual contract to control their turtles and this spring use the turtle trap sold by wcs. The net one made by Jerry Shilling. You will fill it up with turtles until there are none. I don't know what to do this time of the year. I would do whatever I could not to dig around in the "sludge" of a lagoon.

Snappers remain active even in cold water, just slower and less often. I would try big floats and cut bait on a hook.

Question, are these lagoons fenced?

Snappers are notorious overland travelers and it is how they move from drainage to drainage. Also how isolated ponds without significant inlet or outlet flow get snappers. Snappers aren't diggers, other than to lay eggs of course, and a secure fence without gaps is the exclusion option.

I did some swimming ponds on a nuisance job to remove snappers. I used a 4 foot grade stake and drilled a hole through it and crimped a 6 foot cable on it with large size 1/4 turn Bass hooks baited with meat. The sticks were a little more hidden then the milk jugs. The hooks came out the side of the mouth when they bite them and removed very easy with no harm to them. Went back each day a pulled snappers up on shore and put in truck.
It was in warmer weather.
Dave

some one offered the suggestion of bait or give them something to climb on.

wrong answers! large snappers in iowa at this time of year will not climb on stuff to sun themselves.(thats what small turtles do) ie: painted turtles or red eared pond sliders etc. snappers are not feeding in these cold temps regardless what you re offering. their digestive systems have shut down. you may see turtles moving in cold water even under ice but to catch them you would have to get in the water or catch them through the ice. my question is why do you want to catch a snapper in a sewer lagoon? it won't be fit to eat!

Waste handlers process their waste many different ways. Most use some sort of pumping system, depending on the type of process needed dictated by the type of waste and volume. Turtles interfere with the pumps and the process itself.

As far as eating them, the statement was that the ponds were final stage ponds. Maybe the turtle were feeding on fish in the ponds. There would probably be no difference in taste. It all depends on the affluent, stage, and process.

mousie, we have caught a few snappers over the years and we've never eaten any of them. That would require a different license and we

just don't do that many jobs. We normally catch them in a turtle trap from WCS and relocate them to one of our many creeks and

streams. The customers want us to protect their waterfowl and their fish. ( Especially those expensive koi ) I have had snapping

turtle one whole time in my life, and if I ever see it on a menu, you can bet I will have it again. I thought it was delicious.

They get stuck in the piping and valves.

When I was a kid we spent the first 2 weeks of summer vacation trapping turtles. We put them in cattle tanks of clean water. We changed the water a few times and spent the rest of summer catching fish to feed them. About a week before school started back up we had a big party and turtle fry. I sure miss the old days of being care free.

Truth be known, the sewer lagoons are probable no different then some of the swamps they come from far as how clean they are.
Dave

Travis, you sure have a knack for dredging up old memories. My old man had this great big wooden cattle tank next to the barn and he

almost always had a turtle or two swimming around in there. I'm pretty sure they were painteds and I have no idea why they were in

there or where he kept getting them from. It was only 62 years ago, so I should remember better.

Paul, my dad had a horse tank he put turtles in to flush there system out.

Thanks Everet; That's probably it. My grandfather made his living buying and selling horses. Although my dad was a cattle broker, we

always had at least one horse, either in the pasture or the barn. My nickname was Maverick ( I played cards too ) and a lot of my

classmates only remembered me by that name. At our 50th class reunion, we invited a number of our teachers to join us. One of my

teachers spotted me and hollered: "Hey, Maverick, are you still riding horses?" He later told me that he couldn't remember my name.

the bigger the turtle the older the turtle and the more toxins it has the ability to store in its organs and its fat. where a turtle lives may very well dictate the above.

Mousie, you are so right!!
The sewer Lagoons are monitored for oxygen levels and toxins, Sludge is removed every few years and tested. No telling what is in the swamps and how long is has been there.
Dave

Have you ever thought of where the duck or goose you just shot ate its last meal or was swimming in. It is amazing the wild life around waste water lagoons.

the reason i don't eat puddle ducks and geese that eat chem-lawn off the golf course.

I ended up contacting a turtle farm in Iowa and got a couple ideas. I talked to the customer and we decided to wait til spring to trap them out. Their concern was the turtles digging through their liner, but I don't think they will be able to as it's pretty thick stuff. As far as eating the turtles I wasn't planning on that. Just catch and release. Yes the pond is surrounded by a fence, but it has several places a turtle can crawl under. That was also discussed with the owner. Thanks for all the comments and we will see what happens in the spring.