Snapping Turtle Resists Arrest

Well, really, the snapping turtle cooperated completely with the officer... although you'd never be able to convince the officer of that.

A Westmoreland, Tennessee, Police Officer and a snapping turtle offered a little comic relief to downtown sidewalk shoppers as the officer tried to subdue and restrain the mostly docile snapper.

The crime the turtle is alleged to have committed? It apparently wandered into the downtown area and found itself in the middle of the footpath of sidewalk-goers. Once there, it seems to have frozen in fear or confusion.

And so the store owner called the authorities to come and remove the loitering reptile, and that's when the good-natured laughter began.

The officer clearly is unfamiliar with snapping turtles and so is uncertain about how to move the turtle and place it into a small wood crate. He gingerly makes a first attempt to pick the turtle up, but the terrapin moves ever so slightly, which initiated the officer's fight or flight response, sending him into a feverish martial arts display and the gathered onlookers into sustained laughter.

One woman suggests tasing the turtle. Another suggests the officer use his baton to coax the turtle into the box. He agrees that a using a tool is better that chomped fingers.

Finally, he succeeds in getting the turtle into the box, exclaiming victoriously, "Yeah! Oh yeah! Alright!"

The officer had a great sense of humor about his predicament and took the laughter of a sympathetic audience in good stride. For his part, the snapping turtle gave no official statement.

The police officer laughed, "If he crawls out of that and gets into my truck, we're gonna have a problem!"

Like what you see here? You can read more great articles by David Smith at his facebook page, Stumpjack Outdoors.

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