Man finds turtle with son's initials on it [after 47 years]

UPI.com ^ | May 5, 2012 | staff reporter

[Daffynition]

SOUTH STRABANE, Pa., May 5 (UPI) -- A Pennsylvania man said he recently found a live turtle his son carved his initials into 47 years ago.

Holland Cokeley, 85, was walking in the woods behind his South Strabane home with his neighbor's dog when the dog found the turtle, KDKA-TV, Pittsburgh, reported Friday.

"I picked it up, and I thought, 'Oh geez, this is Jeff's turtle!'" said Cokeley. "It's been here for 47 years, and it still has the same markings on it!"

[DainBramage]

Lived on 300 thousand acres the last 25 years....dude. We shoot them from the top of the damn and its way over a mile to the front gate. Pinking turtles with your sons is a time honored tradition, like shooting coyotes.

Im betting your the city slicker between the two of us. BTW nobody I know from Texas calls them sliders. Maybe in Dallas lol.

[X-spurt]

Yeah right. Still got that Uhaul receipt “cowboy”?

[patriot08]

Dahmer? Is that you?

[patriot08]

Around here we plink them with .22’s by the hundreds.
__________________

Dahmer? Is that you?

[SJackson]

If you’d like to be on or off this Outdoors/Rural/wildlife/hunting/hiking/backpacking/National Parks/animals list please FR mail me. And ping me is you see articles of interest.

[SamAdams76]

Around here we plink them with .22’s by the hundreds.

Is that comment supposed to make us think you are some sort of rugged outdoorsman?

[DainBramage]

Youve never plinked turtles?

[DainBramage]

Where in the article does it say Box turtles? Around here they snap and bite your fishing line or toe.

[Daffynition]

>>Experts say some eastern box turtles can live for 100 years.

Holland Cokeley said he kept the turtle for a few days, then released it.<<

From another source: >>The year 1965 was also when a 13-year-old boy in Pennsylvania found a box turtle, carved his initials and the year into its rock-hard shell, and then let the creature go.<<

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-turtle-returns-20120504,0,3018267.story

FWIW DB, from my experience, box turtles do not spend time in the water like sliders and painters. So if the turts you are *plinking* are like those in your image, I think they are snapping turtles, and again, from my experience, a .22 [a .22L, maybe, but doubt it will kill them] will not penetrate their thick, tough shell.

My shooting ethic embraces the notion..if you shoot it...you cook it/if you hook it, you cook it. Even if the snapper is a pest, I would never, never just shoot it and leave it...figure out a way to relocate it, with a live catch 'n release. We've done that with snappers who inhabited our lake...but they were formidable in size...big as bath mats....I didn't like them lounging/basking around the floating dock while the kids were swimming nearby. I don't particularly like snappers, but respect them because they can be ancient of days.

One of the great pleasures of lake living, is to paddle up to a log that is crowded with basking painters and when they spot you at the last second, all dive in the water simultaneously.

And yes, painted turtles will bite your fishing bait...but that is rare.

[Clay Moore]

A .22 LR will penetrate Red Eared Slider shells.

Back when I was about 10, I sat on the bank of a stock tank at the deer lease and shot turtles for many hours and several days.

A few days later, there were what seemed like thousands (probably several 100) dead ones washed up on the bank.

[Daffynition]

Common aquatic turts;

Musk turt:

Painted turtle:

Slider turt:

Snapping turtle:

[Rebelbase]

The African fishermen in my village growing up used to cut the heads off of the turtles that ate their bait while fishing the canals.

[Daffynition]

I agree...a .22L will penetrate the shell of a painter or a slider. It would probably just cause a snapper to move somewhere else for a while.

Shooting on water, defies my common sense.

[Texas Songwriter]

Alligator snapping turtle....have you ever seen them jump. People think turtles are slow. But this one...you need to watch out for.....His neck is deceptively long and can just out as fast as a cobra.

[Clay Moore]

You are correct but by the same token, there were no people or houses within the mile and a half range of a LR. Also I am a tad bit smarter than I was 40 years ago.

[Daffynition]

B4 or after they carved their initials in the turtle’s carapace? :)

[Daffynition]

Where do these critters come from anyway? What was God thinking? Fortunately, I don't think we have any in the Northeast...I hope. Aren't they the guys who use their tongues as bait/lure?

[Texas Songwriter]

Yes.

[cracker45]

“This article is about a box turtle- they are a harmless, helpful species, and nobody shoots them. In fact, if I see one in the road, I’ll pull over and put it off the road.”

Correct and they live on land in wooded areas, NOT in ponds!!

JC

[Bellflower]

How very sweet!

I was able to save a big, heavy snapper a couple of weeks ago. I wonder how old she was? She kept turning around and snapping when I put her down, hoping that she would head to the pond a little ways away. I didn't want to leave her heading in the wrong direction towards heavy traffic, but I didn't want any ticks, so I was hoping rather than turning and snapping she would head for the pond. I kept getting her closer to the pond, but she wasn't cooperating. Finally, I believe, The LORD said to me in my heart, talk to her. So I started to talked to her and she calmed right down and stopped snapping. I was able to put her nearer to the pond without her being spastic, and she was headed in the right direction.

Later on the way back I checked the highway, but she wasn't dead on it. She must have gone into the pond. I was glad to see the road empty of of a dead turtle. There was a nasty tick on my coat, though, and all kinds of turtle slime:)

A while ago I was able to save a snapper who sat on my lap and behaved for about 30 miles all the way to the vet. We have an animal clinic in Madison that takes wild animals, treats them, and then gives them to someone who rehabilitates them and either get them back out into nature, if possible, or gives them to good souls who adopt them. The place has been a real God send.