Mutilation of turtles provokes outrage

At least 10 snapping turtles, many of them egg‑laying females, have been mutilated and either killed or left to die along the Lake Road in Perry. Boyden Lake residents are outraged, says resident Kevin Raye. He contrasts the recent acts of cruelty to those of kindness over the years as drivers have stopped their cars to move a turtle across a road, guided traffic and breathlessly watched a turtle nest spring to life with tiny hatchlings rushing for the nearby lake. Now those same people are mourning the brutality evident on shells deeply gouged and split.
Raye says it looks as though some turtles had an axe taken to them, others were bludgeoned and yet others deliberately driven over. Turtles have since been buried, with flowers put upon one of the roadside mounds. However, Boyden Lake resident Jackie Knox says that since one of the turtles was buried, another act of brutality has been visited upon the same turtle. "The mound with the flowers brought me to tears; what a kind person to have done that. But then someone came back, dug it up and took its head off," she says with sadness and anger.
Back in 2004 a similar spate of mutilations and deliberate killing took place around Boyden Lake, with residents finding turtles pierced all the way through their shells with something like a long screwdriver, bludgeoned, deliberately driven over and half‑crushed, with one having had half its lungs ripped to shreds. Attempts to save those turtles still hanging onto life were attempted at the local veterinary office as well as far afield at Tufts University. A 2004 article in The Quoddy Tides about the slaughter noted that commercial harvesting of turtles was made illegal in 2002 and is considered a Class E crime, and violators could be subject to suspension of any license connected to the activity. In addition, if one has three convictions under Maine fish and wildlife laws within a five‑year period, all hunting and fishing licenses are revoked. It is also illegal to deliberately run over wildlife with a vehicle. Cruelty to animal violations can be either Class E or D crimes.
Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W) Game Warden Joe Gardner has spoken with district attorney Ethan Plaut about the incidents. Cruelty to animals is against the law, Gardner explains. "It is illegal to mutilate or torture them." He acknowledges that a few snapping turtles die every year by accident when people hit them with their cars. But the recent spate of mutilations and deaths looks like someone willfully is taking advantage of the turtles' vulnerability as they try to fulfill their nesting cycle. "This process of them going to nest is a two to three week process. Unfortunately, the roadway is the prime nesting area. It's easy digging on the sandy shoulder, and the pavement is warm."
Knox has had many an experience lifting a turtle from a danger spot in the road, as have many who live around the lake. But in her 75 years of being on the lake and raising her family, the end of June has always been a special time to watch for the nesting females. Remembering her children's anticipation for the annual event, she says, makes the recent violence more difficult. "Seeing them is really hard," she says about the eight turtles she has come across that have been mutilated and left to die. "They were smashed in the back. Intestines were out." She adds, "They're beautiful old turtles. I've gone swimming all my life in the lake and never been bothered by them."
"We had a [snapping] turtle by our house," Raye remarks with a smile. "We watched and waited and waited for the eggs to hatch. They were tiny, the size of a quarter. They came out of the nest and made right for the water." It is always an amazing process to watch, he adds. The baby turtles know right where to go and seem to understand the importance of getting into the water post-haste. He adds, "Not many survive." They are food for birds and fish. "They're timeless. There is something prehistoric about them. It's just a shame that thoughtless, cruel people can destroy them, and so many, so needlessly." He adds that he has never heard of anyone around the lake getting hurt by a snapping turtle. He remembers his grandmother, born in 1904, saying much the same thing.
Snapping turtles can live to be well over 35 years old, with females starting their reproductive lives at about 12 to 15 years, says IF&W wildlife biologist Derek Yorks. Gardner has seen turtles as big around as a 50‑gallon barrel. The turtles that Raye learned about were not as large, with shells in the 18 to 24 inch size, but still well along in their lives. Yorks states, "I can say with confidence that they are 20 years or more. Those are big females." In 2004 many of the turtles being mutilated and killed were in the 25 to 40 year old range as well. "The whole population is structured around the mature turtles," Yorks explains. With the young population very vulnerable to predation, "losing any adult of breeding age is a bad road to go down. Typically they [the turtle populations] don't recover easily."
Yorks is concerned about what the recent killings could do to the overall health of the turtle population and the nearby lake's ecological health. "They're omnivores. They eat all kinds of things." But in particular they're scavengers, he notes, with big appetites, so their ability to clean up a lake is significant. "The amount of dead things they scavenge can be substantial." While they also eat ducklings and fish that fishermen may covet for their own bag, Yorks says, "Ducks and fish and turtles have co‑existed for eons. They're not going to wipe them out." He explains that if someone is killing the females because they are angered by the turtles eating such prey, it is a "short‑sighted and incomplete picture of ecology." The cycles of predator and prey are important to the overall health of an ecosystem. He points to the many predators who feast on turtle eggs and hatchlings and the small percentage of turtles that actually make it to adulthood.
In addition, Yorks suggests that harvesting snapping turtles for personal consumption may not be such a good idea. "They have been the subject of many toxicology studies because they live so long." Because of the way that PCBs and heavy metals like mercury accumulate in turtles' systems, "you can end up with something that is really not good to eat. I would be worried about it." Many states have issued advisories about toxicity levels in snapping turtle flesh.
"Everyone would just like to know who's doing it and have them be stopped and educated," says Raye. "Cruelty to animals is so often a precursor to violent crime. Hunting is one thing, but to maim it and let it die slowly -- it's pretty sick." Knox notes that she heard recently that someone may have an idea of who is responsible and hopes that information is forthcoming. Yorks adds, "It's sad to hear about this. Really sad." He hopes that "if people knew a little bit about how long these turtles live and how important they are" they would grow to join the ranks of those who value and respect the turtles' presence.
If someone saw or knows anything connected to the mutilations, Gardner advises that they contact him through the warden dispatch number at 973‑3700. The Operation Game Warden anonymous tip line is also available at 1‑800‑ALERT‑US.