We’re virtually two years away from the subsequent “Jurassic World” installment — however when you’re fiending for big reptiles gone wild, right here’s a enjoyable story from the summer season.
Whereas residents of Alexandria, Virginia, are used to seeing wildlife like deer, raccoons and even the occasional fox, they began to freak out when sightings of a prehistoric-looking beast began to turn into extra frequent in Might and June.
It seems a 65-pound alligator snapping turtle (sure, that’s a thing) was inexplicably roaming the streets of the Washington, DC, suburb.
The Fairfax County Police reported that it began to get calls concerning the terrifying (albeit gradual) creature and alerted animal management.
“Our Animal Safety Police (APP) obtained a name about a big turtle that was repeatedly crossing the street in a residential space of Alexandria,” the Fairfax County Police Division wrote in a June 15 Facebook post alongside footage of the menacing-looking turtle. “A lot to their shock, it was a 65-pound alligator snapping turtle!”
Apart from its scary look, animal management was shocked to see the turtle — as a result of it’s not native to the realm.
“The ‘frequent’ snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) is the species native to Virginia, whereas the alligator snapping turtle is native to river drainages that stream within the Gulf of Mexico, east to Georgia and the panhandle of Florida, and westward to East Texas,” the Virginia Division of Recreation and Inland Fisheries wrote on in a June 11 Facebook post.
As a substitute, they imagine it was a captive-bred turtle that was launched into the wild.
The APP safely captured the massive animal and transported it to the Fairfax County Animal Shelter earlier than the county’s Wildlife Administration Specialist organized to switch the turtle to the Virginia Division of Recreation and Inland Fisheries.
There, they named him Lord Fairfax earlier than he discovered a everlasting residence on the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk. The zoo renamed him Yidaro, per a July post on its website.
Extremely, Lord Fairfax continues to be only a child, per the APP.
“Many species of turtle can dwell a minimal of fifty years and others greater than 100,” they wrote. “At 65 lbs, this one was a teenager, as this species can attain weights exceeding 200 lbs. Our native snapping turtle solely reaches a most weight of round 50 lbs.”
Residents are blissful they now not must take care of the animal, whereas officers are glad he discovered a secure residence as he was unlikely to make it by way of the colder months on the streets.
