As kids we used to catch snapping turtles in the drainage ditch and follow that on down to Buffalo Bayou (Houston) to do stuff in the jungle there which is where we caught a baby alligator and added it to the snapping turtle pond we had dug in the backyard, we used bamboo vaulting poles to keep us on the banks of the very large drainage ditch and also to pole vault across it at some points and of course to mess with the various creatures, turtles, water moccasins, and whatever else was in the path of the prefeminized boys of America.
This was in the days when no one knew what the little boys were doing all day and didn’t care.
Yeah— like the huge moccasins we killed, skinned and brought to a beltmaker who made us all belts— tanned, lacquered and beautiful belts. Worth quite a bit if around today, same as gator shoes and belts. Those were great days in childhood memory. And, we could have been bitten, more than once. Prefeminized-— excellent cultural term, but none of us were ever feminized try as they might. Lost two pals to Vietnam— both Marine Recon and snipers— long ago.
https://www.chron.com/life/wildlife/article/texas-alligator-turtle-escape-19358672.php
Brazos Bend State Park is about 15 minutes from my home.