MIAMI — A demonstration of how not to handle a snapping turtle turned into a cringe-inducing illustration when the turtle bit its handler and refused to let go.
A video of the incident was posted January 30 on Facebook by “Python Cowboy” Mike Kimmel, best known for hunting down the invasive pythons and iguanas in Florida’s Everglades.
“A client named Fatty showed us what not to do with a snapping turtle! Ouch!” Kimmel wrote.
Fatty was coincidentally discussing how snapping turtles bite when the one in his hand lunged with amazing speed and clamped down on his index finger.
“It hurts like hell,” Fatty is heard saying. “He’ll just hold on for awhile. … Like a mule.”
What follows is about a minute and a half of censored curse words, wails of pain and requests for someone to get a water hose and douse the turtle to remove it.
It’s not clear how one bystander pried the stubborn turtle loose, but the victim came away with his finger — and stoic composure — in tact.
“The only thing meaner than that is me,” he says to the camera.
The 2-minute video has gotten thousands of views, reactions and comments, including from some who marveled at the man’s calm demeanor.
“This guy has a true threshold for pain!” Jimmy Young posted.
“A straw up his nose will cause it to release its bite,” David Driver wrote.
“If you are really brave and really trying to be an influencer, you would let him bite something else,” Josh Grant said.
Snapping turtles are native to the East Coast and “can extend their neck the length of their body,” according to the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Illinois.
“Complimenting this impressive reach, snapping turtles have a powerful, lightning-fast bite which can break bones with its extreme force,” the college said.
The lunge and bite can happen “as quickly as 78 milliseconds/bite,” the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences reports.
By MARK PRICE/Miami Herald
