NEWCASTLE, Calif — Life at the Placer County Tortoise Rescue is generally slow paced, and the animals at the Newcastle rescue are kid friendly and docile.
That’s the way Melyssa Descovich likes it. The former animal trainer spent the last 14 years rescuing tortoises from all over the United States. She recently opened up the sanctuary kids could see and learn about the reptiles.
But on July 16, someone dropped off a not so kid-friendly animal. It weighed a heavy 40 pounds, and snapped at anything in its presence.
"This guy could take your hand off," Descovich said. "They could do some damage to a child and even kill them depending on where they bite."
Descovich, of course, is talking about a snapping turtle.
Just in case you need a quick biology refresher, tortoises live on land and turtles live in the water. It not uncommon for Descovich to rescue both species, but a 40-pound snapping turtle is a first for her.
Snapping turtles are not native to California and they are illegal to own, so it was a big surprise when this one showed up in Cindy Parker's goose pond.
Parker lives in the rural town of Rough and Ready. She first encountered the turtle while using a pool net to clean algae out of her pond.
"All of a sudden, I felt a jolt on my net," Parker recalled. "He had bit the net and was holding on."
Prior to her first encounter, Parker says her geese stopped going in the water and some of the baby geese were dying.
"One of them, the foot was shredded," explained Parker, who isn’t sure how the 40-pound turtle got in her pond, since her property is completely fenced off.
To remove the turtle Parker enlisted the help of her landscaper Terry Sulley, who used a large fishing net to drag it out of the pond.
"That thing was huge I was scared myself," Sulley said. It took some wrestling, but eventually Sulley and his son were able to get the turtle out of the water. "It was rolling around and grabbed a hold of my sons shoe, but he’s OK."
It' unclear what will happen to the snapping turtle.
Placer County Tortoise Rescue notified California Fish and Wildlife. For now the snapping turtle will be cared for until they can find it a permanent home.
"We work with another sanctuary that takes them back to the Midwest," Deschovich said.
Follow the conversation on Facebook with John Bartell.
READ THE LATEST NEWS ON ABC10.COM:
- A comet is visiting from the most distant parts of our solar system, and you can see it
- California churches are taking service outdoors during mandated indoor closures
- Gov. Newsom outlines strict guidelines for schools
- Sacramento Republic FC's inclusion into MLS delayed 1 year due to coronavirus
- South Sacramento Target reports 'multiple' employees diagnosed with coronavirus
FOR NEWS IN YOUR COMMUNITY, DOWNLOAD OUR APP:
►Stay in the know! Sign up now for the Daily Blend Newsletter