I just found a snapping turtle!

[SirPeale]

So we're out of milk, so I run to the store to get more.

On the way is Staples, and I dumpster dive there regularly to see if they've tossed anything nifty.

As I'm driving away, I see a big dirt lump.  As I pass it, my brain is still processing the image.  Then I realize how much the lump looks like a turtle.

Hit the reverse, and sure enough, looks a lot like a turtle!  On closer inspection, it's a huge freaking snapping turtle!

It's about a mile from the river, so it must have crawled all that way.  It had dug into the dirt trying to cover itself up.  It's really dehydrated, and had some leeches on it (which I pulled off).

Later the kids, wife and I are going to set him back in the river.  Pictures to follow!

[HyperHautian]

Cool!  Good to see someone nice enough to return it to nature... I am the same way, although I'm probably too much of a chicken to want to pick up a snapper...




You dumpster dive Staples?? What have you ever found? Just curious

[Stingray]

You sure that's a snapper and not just a water turtle? Most snapping turtles (at least the variety we get around here) would take off your fingers before they let you pick them up. They have really long necks and can reach all the way back to their tail. Vicious little guys!



Whatever type it is, well done for rescuing him and returning him to water.

-S

[ChadTower]

On my way to/from work I take a road that basically was built through the middle of a lake.  I see some HUGE turtles by the side of the road trying to figure out how to get across.  Last week I saw one that was probably 2.5 feet across, it was big enough that even someone who wanted to hit it would think twice.

Fortunately, I have yet to see a dead/carstruck turtle on this road.

[Stingray]

I have a very similar road on my drive to work as well. I also see big snappers in the road from time to time. I agree that the shell on those guys looks nasty enough to deter anyone from intentionally running one over.

-S

[mr.Curmudgeon]

I love these sans-machismo animal threads...restores my faith in man.  Plus, it's soooooo cuuuuute.   

[JoyMonkey]

I love the Google Ads that get thrown into these Everything Else topics (apart from that big red one with a stupid blinking guy that takes you to a crap site selling smilies).

Check it out; an eye-less talking turtle!

[Thenasty]

you could use that turtle for a security device for your cabinet 
better than my Razor Blade security device for the Trackball. 
Maybe you've seen the thread about that so, we are in the same level for this j/k. 

[Zakk]

Do know that the reach on the neck of a snapping turtle is impressive.  I think they can reach halfway back the length of themselves, so be careful.

[crashwg]

Might I suggest a shovel and a trash can.  Playing arcade games may get a little harder if you're missing a finger or two!

[Thenasty]

Might I suggest a shovel and a trash can.

[Newsome]

Here is a related quote from  http://www.naturealmanac.com/archive/snappers/snappers.html:
"Always approach a turtle from behind. Immobilize the creature by pressing the rear end of the shell down hard and pick the creature up by the base of the tail. Make certain you hold it well away from your leg. Use common sense and you won't get bitten. Of course an even better way to avoid bites is to avoid picking them up entirely. Anymore the only time I pick one up is to remove it from a dangerous situation like a highway."

The times I've picked them up in the road, I had trouble getting behind them - they turn to face you and are pretty fast at it. I threw a towel over one one time and this made it easier to get behind. I picked him up towel and all.  BUT - I would still suggest taking Thenasty's advice and get the little guy into a metal trash can. You wouldn't want that guy loose in the car with you.

-Newsome

[Thenasty]

If I ever get bit by ANY TURTLE, it will become TURTLE SOUP 

[str1der]

If I ever get bit by ANY TURTLE, it will become TURTLE SOUP

[Thenasty]

If I ever get bit by ANY TURTLE, it will become TURTLE SOUP

[SirPeale]

He's gone.  I've found stranded snappers before, so I knew to stay WAY away from his head.

It's been a fun day all around for the family.  Started off with releasing the turtle after a nice breakfast, then we went for a little drive.  Earlier in the week we'd tried geocaching, but couldn't find it.  So I checked the site out again for some clues to where it was.  We had to do some hiking in the woods, but we found it!

It's too bad...we got really close when my wife spilled the beans: she'd left the keys in the car, and her purse on the front seat!  I was like "you always lock the car when you walk twenty feet from it, why didn't you do that now?"  She was like "well, I didn't think we were walking that far!"

She walked back, I took the boys the rest of the way (which turned out to be a whopping 100 feet away!).  I'm posting some pictures on our site, in the gallery.  Check there in a bit!

[ChadTower]

Geocaching is fun, I've found some... it's an awesome way to get to see some specific things you would never find otherwise, since people tend to put them places they think would be cool to go.

[Thenasty]

Hi Peale, I was jsut in your site and reading some stuff. I stumbled on the Williamss patch and you mentioned that is now included in MAME. i just tried it and still as it was. 5=1, 6=4.
I always went to (F2) service mode and change the value for CENTER to be 1 credit, and when I read your news, a grin on my face just lit up a bit and tried it and still the old behaviour. have they taken it off ?

[Sephroth57]

geocaching??

[Thenasty]

geocaching??

Google says:

Every April, geocachers around the world organize and clean up their local parks. It's just one way we can contribute to the maintenance of our outdoor spaces and to say "thanks" to the land managers that help to make our parks a great place for geocaching.

[ChadTower]

Geocaching.

[SirPeale]

Hi Peale, I was jsut in your site and reading some stuff. I stumbled on the Williamss patch and you mentioned that is now included in MAME. i just tried it and still as it was. 5=1, 6=4.
I always went to (F2) service mode and change the value for CENTER to be 1 credit, and when I read your news, a grin on my face just lit up a bit and tried it and still the old behaviour. have they taken it off ?

The patch on my site makes the buttons 5=1 credit, 6=1 credit and 7=4 credits.  I did it this way to not break the cabs that already exist.  Aaron Giles had originally thought that 7 was a service button (to add credits without tripping the coin meter).

The true behaviour is 5=1, 6=4 and 7=1.  The values can be changed, of course, using the advance button to get to the menu (as you found out).

The photos are up now, FYI!

[GGKoul]

Geocaching.

What is Geocaching?

Geocaching is an entertaining adventure game for gps users. Participating in a cache hunt is a good way to take advantage of the wonderful features and capability of a gps unit. The basic idea is to have individuals and organizations set up caches all over the world and share the locations of these caches on the internet. GPS users can then use the location coordinates to find the caches. Once found, a cache may provide the visitor with a wide variety of rewards. All the visitor is asked to do is if they get something they should try to leave something for the cache.

[xar256]

That is a really cool idea.  I may have to look into getting a GPS next year after the wedding and give this a go...Haven't gone hiking in years...

Xar256

[Bones]

Been there, done that.
http://forum.arcadecontrols.com/index.php/topic,31061.0.html

[SaiNRuB]

SAVE US GAMERA!!

[dek]

You coulda traded it to Noice87 for Roadblasters

[JackTucky]

I had one today too!  Walked out from under my fence, across the road.  I could see his "Drag" marks.

A local landscaper drove down my court, saw me looking at him and asked, "Can I have him?"

I asked, "Why, you gonna eat him?"

He said, "No, I'm going to bring him to my pond.  I'll name him Charlie"   

Mine looked like the picture, but his shell wasn't pointy.

Well, I hope he was for real.  I hope Charlie isn't dinner.

Art

[SirPeale]

You dumpster dive Staples?? What have you ever found? Just curious

Jeeze...all kinds of stuff.  Everything from computer parts to hundreds of boxes of software.

[gprime]

A couple summers ago I jumped off a boat and hit what I believed to be a rock. I was commenting that I thought it should be deeper when everyone in the boat had a :O expression on their face. I look behind me and there was this huge snapper, the shell must have been 3 feet across. I've never swam back in so fast in my life 

Now whenever we go, I let everyone else go first (that's *if* i ever go in anymore. damn turtles!)

[KenToad]

Yeah, huge snappers around here.  The funniest program I ever saw on our local public access network was made by a few local hillbiliies walking up some creek hunting for snappers.  They were explaining the dangers of hunting in the murky waters with their hands.  Most of the time the turtles hide along the banks with their heads pointing upstream (or was it downstream?) but sometimes they point another direction.  These guys had some funny stories about getting bitten, but they were so into describing how good turtles taste as they loaded their catch into burlap sacks and slogged their way upstream that I found it almost funnier than Wayne's world, even though I'm a lifelong vegetarian and don't usually find that kind of thing funny. 

Good work saving that one, Peale.  I couldn't find the pictures, though.  Would someone mind posting a direct link?

Cheers,
KenToad

[SirPeale]

Good work saving that one, Peale.  I couldn't find the pictures, though.  Would someone mind posting a direct link?

It's on my site, under the gallery.

[Stingray]

Wow, Peale! The way you were holding it, you're lucky you still have all your fingers. I'm not snapping turtle expert or anyghing, but the ones we have here can easily reach back the point on the shell where you had your hands! Maybe that's a different species, or maybe it was just too dehydrated to try to snap at you.

-S

[GGKoul]

Good work saving that one, Peale.

[ChadTower]

That is not a healthy turtle, he looks like he's half dead.  Good thing you put him back, maybe he'll make it.

[SirPeale]

Good work saving that one, Peale.  I couldn't find the pictures, though.  Would someone mind posting a direct link?

It's on my site, under the gallery.

http://www.pealefamily.net/gallery/funday

Aw, come on, make him work for it.

And yeah, he was severely dehydrated. 

I've picked up bigger snappers before, ones that weren't bad off like this one was.  They could get their head to just past their front legs.  If he'd tried anything, I would have dropped him like a hot rock, though.

[fredster]

Rehydrate him with water and some potatoes carrots.

take a hammer and smash it's little head, then break open the shell and clean it.

I have people come down to my pond all the time and pull those little buggers out and eat em.

[KenToad]

Hey Peale,

  Just to remind you that your site is not incredibly well-organized

[KenToad]

From your Funspot II gallery:

        Yes!!! Oreos!

Click my sig.  I just wrote an article on trans-fats for the local paper and interviewed the guy who sued Oreo cookies.

3 Oreos=slightly less trans fat than a stick of margarine--according to the FDA.

Cheers,
KenToad

[SirPeale]

From your Funspot II gallery:

        Yes!!! Oreos!

Click my sig.  I just wrote an article on trans-fats for the local paper and interviewed the guy who sued Oreo cookies.

3 Oreos=slightly less trans fat than a stick of margarine--according to the FDA.

Yeah, I don't want my kids eating Oreos anymore.  I've learned a lot since that picture was taken.  I've tried very hard to eliminate partially hydrogenated anything from our diets.  It's hard, the wife has her favorite foods, a lot of which have a ton of crap in them.  She says, "what am I supposed to eat?"

I've been trying to get healthier foods into our diet, but it's hard if you don't want to change.

According to http://www.bantransfats.com/, Nabisco has introduced a new version of the Oreo that has no trans-fats.

Oh yeah, one last thing: what's wrong with how my site is organized?

Edit: is that your site?  I've been referencing it for a few months now.