Chonkosaurus, the Chicago snapping turtle, went viral earlier this month because of his beefy size and early season sighting. JL and I saw plenty of turtles during our two week birdathon earlier this month, but this guy was the most impressive. I’m pretty sure Chonkosaurus could still eat him for lunch, however!
Snapping turtles are one of 11 species of turtles that live in Wisconsin. Our Department of Natural Resources says they usually grow a shell (carapace) that ranges from 8 to 16 inches. The snapper we saw was definitely on the larger end of that scale.
Snapping turtles have very powerful jaws and “consume almost any animal they can catch.”
There must be a loophole for other turtles because this one was sharing a log with 5 very large painted turtles who looked very chill (although to be fair, they were smartly situated behind the snapper)!