Not an “animal rights” loon by any stretch, but when you are in a animal’s natural turf, assuming no aggression, we are the guests.
Crazy people need to be locked up
If a man can’t dodge a “lunging” turtle, he shouldn’t be out and about. What an idiot.
Perp wasn’t named Mario by any chance?
If his shell is his home then should he also be charged with breaking and entering?
Silly man should have just mishandled top secret documents- there’s no penalty for that.
Oh wait... maybe he didn;t INTEND to kill the turtle with a hammer
Trying to imagine a turtle lunging at him makes me think of the killer bunny from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
We hooked a turtle once....in Canada....yes, they do lunge....and they’ll scare the sh** out of you. Once it’s loose...I agree....nail it.
“Officer, I can’t explain it. He ran smack into my knife all 42 times.”
Now, can we do the same for people who attack and kill humans?
I had the turtle soup at Commander’s Palace. It was good.
“It was coming right at me!”
Can’t understand anybody wanting to harm a turtle (except for snapping turtles - but I leave those alone). Turtles are almost as cute in person as they are in cartoons. I’d actually take a little risk to help a turtle...
Hmmmm, the turtle was snagged on a fishing hook/line, making said turtle rather pissed-off.
I would have to assume the “jogger” was dealing with a snapping turtle [which can grow large enough such that they cannot retract into their shell when approached]. In my experience, they can actually achieve weights near 30 pounds or more.
I also assume the jogger carried a hammer for personal protection (not just from reptiles?).
To wit, I have ^slayed^ aggressive swans on the golf course with my 9-iron. I have also kicked and struck snapping turtles from the fairway several times in my life.
I don’t care about them...I care about my physical health. Plus, they make a great stew.
I hope he gets the maximum penalty.
What a jerk! If he took my animal self-defense course, he wouldn’t need a hammer, and the turtle would have been left mostly uninjured.
I helped save a snapping turtle that was trying to cross a busy road once. He would been run over. Used a snow shovel to toss him back into the creek. I hope he lived.
Long story short, once it was on land it turned into a true monster. I eventually succeeded in lifting him off the ground by my fishing line, which was amazingly still intact.
I put four rounds of .380 Remington "Golden Sabre" hollow points in his head at point blank range, and they completely penetrated the length of the body and exited through the shell near his tail, with no apparent result.
We finally got a shovel and turned him over on his back. Six hours later, when my brother-in-law got home from work, he was still squirming around trying to flip himself.