BanjoRay- Bobert has moved to a new and very different location. This was a first encounter kind of thing- the cats aren't likely to have dealt with a big snapper before.

Bobert- I've personally had reason to handle many very large (shells 18"-25" long) bad-tempered females and newly-hatched Common Snapping Turtles- an unofficial part of an earlier job- and find they are mainly concerned with laying their eggs and filling their stomachs. I love to watch their prehistoric-feeling movements as they search for the perfect nest site. I've not handled Alligator snappers.

Generally, the only time you're likely to find either kind of snapper out of water is when the females go ashore to lay their eggs in spring and when the hatchlings emerge from their underground sandbeds about 100 days later to scramble their way to water.

Snappers up here are slower growing and reach larger sizes in general than their southerly cousins. They are scavengers and opportunists, preferring carcases, small amphibians and reptiles, crayfish, fish, cygnets and ducklings, etc. Chances are your cats are safe enough unless they insist on sticking themselves into harm's way.

You took action using information at hand. We do the best we can and learn as we go. Another time you may make a different choice.

North Carolina snappers

Or was it an Alligator snapping turtle ?

Large female snapper in Maine

Maine again, medium size

Another Maine snapper's story

http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/snapping_turtle.aspx

Warm regards,

Maeve