Author Topic: Disappearing geese (Read 2584 times)

rwng · « **on:** October 07, 2003, 11:09:08 AM »

This may not be a mystery but 16 years back, my Mom lived on a 10 acre parsel in mid Michigan. On her property there was a small 1-2 acre spring fed pond. She had bought a half dozen grey geese for ambience and they just milled around the pond. One day my wife and I were fishing off the bank (mostly for yellow perch). We had finished and were stowing our gear, when all of the sudden all the geese started making all kinds of noise and flew out of the pond. (they were out there tooling around while we were fishing) Anyway they all flew off except one, which was trying to fly but was just flapping at the surface. He flapped on the water for about 2-3 seconds and then disappeared under water. It never broke the surface again. My wife and I just looked at each other stunned, with our mouths open. I mean this was a full grown or nearly full grown goose. Anyway we never figured out if it was a snapper or a pike or what it was. But we had a good story about the Torrey rd. sea monster. :eek:

Dan Mich Trapper · « **Reply #1 on:** October 08, 2003, 09:55:26 AM »

I wish I could have seen that . Not too many get to see the "act of hunting " in wild animals . I almost did once .
I saw a garter snake chasing a frog , but the frog was too crafty and stopped hopping , the snake flew righjt by and never found him again .Had my hopes up though .

1911crazy · « **Reply #2 on:** October 08, 2003, 11:35:04 AM »

Its most likely a large snapping turtle I had these grab my sunnies I had hooked bringing them in. I also had one largemouth bass over 10lbs grab my hooked sunfish too and too bad I only had a number #8 hook in the sunnie. I have no clue how these guys use float tubes with these big snappers around the biggest one here is almost 4' diameter and a head big as a human. I hooked him once and he put his head up my son said it was a log till it started moving. But it did spit out my hook. On another day I did talk to a guy who hooked him good it tore up his reel and took all his line and he agreed it was the biggest snapper he has ever seen. I know the size because he swims under the bridge I fish from sometimes. What ever they hit just goes sraight down and its gone!!! BigBill

rwng · « **Reply #3 on:** October 09, 2003, 02:05:54 AM »

I was thinking maybe a Snapper but the biggest I ever saw was a little bigger than the diam. of a 5 gal bucket. BigBill, that's a huge turtle. If they get that big, then that must have been it.

williamlayton · « **Reply #4 on:** October 09, 2003, 05:20:19 AM »

not only do they get big--they are quick as snot on a brass doorknob--and got the temprement of my wife on a good day :oops: :oops: hey fellers doan tell her i said that--i hafta go to sleep.
blessings

John · « **Reply #5 on:** October 09, 2003, 08:09:07 AM »

I agree with the snapper explanation, do they live that far north?

I've lost ducks to them at the beginning of season. Shot em dead, and before I could get out to pick them up they just disappear.

Those snappers are agressive. I used to do alot of scuba diving and spear fishing around here in old abandoned strip mines. A buddy and I were cruising along side by side and right below us in the moss was the back shell of a large snapper. My buddy poked the shell with the tip of his spear and here it came.

It came up out of the moss with it's mouth wide open and right at us. We both reversed direction swimming backwards so we could keep our eyes on the devil, and he chased us for several feet before he went back down in the moss.

Ya ever laugh under water. That's what we did, we looked at one another and laughed our asses off. After he quit chasing us it was funny.

rwng · « **Reply #6 on:** October 09, 2003, 11:19:15 AM »

Yeah, they are up in the great white north.
Another snapper story for you guys. A few years back my cousin and I were tooling along on my pontoon boat. While putting thru one of the canals, (about 2' deep) my cousin spots this turtle and jumps in to get it. It was about a 10" snapper. Well he picks it up and puts it right up close to his face to look at it. (At the time it's head was tucked in) Just about when I was telling him to "watch out he'll getcha" It stuck it's head out and nearly nailed his nose, so he dropped it in the water cursing expletives. Then it dawns on him the thing is in the same water he is in. He jumped out of the water onto that boat like he had launchers on his feet. He swears he felt it trying to nail his feet. (chasing him, like your story John)

bullet maker · « **Reply #7 on:** October 09, 2003, 04:40:32 PM »

I got a snapper tail for ya all. A coupe of years back, I was a sitting on the banks of a strip pit watching these bass fish, swing to and fro, Now some of these bass were in schools of maybe 20 to 30 fish, and were sizes of 1 lb`s up to 5 lbs. I was sitting there enjoying the nice fall autumn day, while holding my 50 cal Thompson black powder rifle, when all of a sudden this really hugh big snapper :eek: (which had been resting on the bottom of the pit), now started to come up to the surface as the bass were coming. The snapper stopped about 6 inches below and waited for the fish to come by. As they passed by him about 3ft, He stuck his appendige out of his mouth, which looked like a little red worm on a piece of long wire. Sure enough, one of the bass coulnt resist and came over to the red appendige, and BAM, :shock: the snapper had him a fish. He sunk down and ate the fish. About 5 minutes later he comes back up to repeat the process. I then decided to get some target pratice in and save my bass. I blew a 50 cal. bullet right through him and he sunk in a pool of blood.

Now here is what`s weird. In about 2 to 3 minutes after he sunk bleeding, about 13 to 15 smaller snapper`s came out of nowhere and formed a purfect circle around where he sunk, as to paying homage, to a fallen comrade.
Well I reloaded and shot one of them, but the rest scattered and I never got another shot off. I just whished I had my M-14 that day instead of my black powder rifle.
bullet maker

1911crazy · « **Reply #8 on:** October 09, 2003, 05:05:21 PM »

I'm driving down a new section of highway and in the shoulder i see one of the second biggest snapping turtles I have ever seen it was at least 3' diameter. Now its trying to cross the highway at the same time a state trooper pulls up and asks me what the problem is I told him there is a turtle in front of my car if it crosses the highway its going to flip a car. He looked at me as if I was drinking? Then walked to the front of my car and grabbed his gun and said my God thats a big one? Then we got the turtle to turn around and go back off the highway. I hate snapping turtles as much as snakes!!! I would love to go fishing with a tow truck to get the big one i have were i fish he scares away the bass.

One day I'm fishing using my favorite lure and won't ya know it this turtle is hiding on the bottom in the shallows I just spotted him as my lure went by him and he snapped it up and i set the hook very hard about ten times I sure punished him as much as I could before the line broke and I lost my lure I watch him swim away with it stuck in his jaw. BigBill

The average ones we have is from a 15" car rim diameter to a 15" tire size and bigger because there is no crazy turtle hunters up here getting them to eat or sell to a resturant. I wish somebody would come up here and clean these places out???

MOGorilla · « **Reply #9 on:** October 10, 2003, 02:22:33 AM »

This is going back 20 years, but I grew up in Central Illinois and a friend caught a big snapper in the back water of the Illinois River. I am pretty sure he was trapping, which was slightly illegal, but I never questioned him too much. Anyway, he comes and gets us to help load the thing. He was a Bio Student in College at the time and he called and since the turtle was alive, the school was going to take and study it. This turtle was an Aligator snapper turtle brother let me tell you, these things are prehistoric. I took six guys to load it in the back of a Mazda pick up. It was so large that its shell was wider than the wheel wells of the small pick up. I swear the head was every bit of eight inches. We stuck a large log in its mouth and hoisted him into the bed quickly. They put it in a large tank at the school. During the study, they confirmed the age of the turtle as over 200 years old. I guess you can count the rings on the shell. It was a monster and its catching was the last time I went swimming in that area.

williamlayton · « **Reply #10 on:** October 10, 2003, 04:12:51 AM »

this seems to be an appropriate place to post this question--i had posted on another forum here but never recieved an answer. i/we have always referred to snapping turtles as alligator snapping turtles--i live in houston which is about the same as so. louisiana, so. georgia, so. miss.--anyway-i digress--but we have had a couple show up at the golf course--a feller described this snapper to someone-?

- and he said what we had was a florida snapper--different from an alligator snapper. any biologist out there can explain or tell me how many different kinds there are.
blessings

MOGorilla · « **Reply #11 on:** October 10, 2003, 07:18:15 AM »

I'm not a biologist, but a chemist, which means I am a smart biologist. Just kidding. Anyway, this is how I have heard it. There two types of snappers, the common and the aligator. The common is the most common variety. They typically only get to ~2.5 feet, their shells are smoother. The aligator snappers have large spike like shells, they get bigger, and they are the only turtle in the world with they afore mentioned 'wormlike" appendage in their mouth to lure prey. I believe Aligator Snappers are on the endangered species list as they are mainly river turtles. Don't get caught ventilating one of these as it could be costly. If it looks like something Godzilla should tangle with, it is probably an aligator snapper, if it looks like a mean turtle, probably a common.

John · « **Reply #12 on:** October 10, 2003, 07:56:06 AM »

I agree, there are what I call common snappers and there are the alligator snappers, two different species, and the alligator snapper is protected in most if not all states.

Boys, if ya haven't tried snapper on the plate, you are missing out on a real treat. They are a bitch to clean, but quite tasty.

Back in my noodlin days, when I put barrels on the bottoms of three different area lakes and used those scuba tanks to "run" em, I would get those snappers on my mind now and then.

Several times Oologah Lake would be muddy with zero visibility when noodlin time came, or we would be noodlin at night on Grand, and I would have to just feel my way across the bottom to locate my barrels. I could see in my mind's eye a big snapper layin down there with his trap open and me accidentally stickin a part of me in it.......I hear them things don't turn loose till it thunders.

In answer to one of the above questions.....no we weren't laughin when that snapper came up after us, and he got right there up close and personal before he turned and went back to the moss.

williamlayton · « **Reply #13 on:** October 10, 2003, 11:09:02 AM »

well-thanx fer tha answer so quickly--i thunk these, here on tha golf course, was the alligator kind cause they look like tha ones i seen all ma life. never have paid any attention to tha other-iguess cause i didn't know it was a snapper-thinkin it wuz jest a turtle--as you can see i didn't ever take ta tryin to figure out who was kin to who--jest ate what was there.
by the way-those sucker have made a heck of a dent in tha nutra population--was hunnerds of em last summer--can't hardly find one this year.
blessings

myronman3 · « **Reply #14 on:** October 11, 2003, 05:30:19 PM »

hell yeah we got snappers up north. big ones too. we called the giants on the miss logger heads and man they were huge. i mean 3-4 foot shells. you dont see those everday, but you do see them. now i live further up north, but we still have big snappers up here. although i havent seen any near as big as those on the mississippi. i dont monkey with them.
once fishing with my dad on the miss, he gets a bite. so he starts to reeling like the devil, had a hell of a fight. you have to understand, dad doesnt even like to take his own fish off the hook(

). so anyhow, he finally pulls up a medium sized snapper out of the water. i am looking at the turtle, and all the sudden dad cuts loose with a pistol he pulled from god knows where. talk about surprised! :-D :-D

williamlayton · « **Reply #15 on:** October 12, 2003, 01:44:08 AM »

loggerheads--now when i wuz growin up--those loggerheads were BIG softshell turtles--ma cuz in louisiana calls loggerheads snappers but they is diff frum alligator snappers. my how terms get confusin-use tha same words but meanin different creatures. no wunder why we caint communicate with each other--english language? huh-- in name only. it can apply to other thangs too. maybe we ought ta learn frum this and not preconcieve whut weuns are talkin bout--might not be tha same thang tha utherin is talkin bout.
blessings

1911crazy · « **Reply #16 on:** October 12, 2003, 02:53:41 PM »

Like I said I just watch these guys with those float tubes and swim fins to fish from and just shake my head if they only knew what was on the bottom waiting for them? They could lose any member at anytime if you get my drift?? And their worried about JAWS? (sharks) BigBill

MOGorilla · « **Reply #17 on:** October 13, 2003, 02:15:27 AM »

I actually made a semi study of the effects of pollution on turtle populations, mainly sea turtles. The loggerhead is a big, 4' leathery shelled sea turtle. Unfortunately, our life style is killing off most of the sea turtles. I got the opportunity to sea three while diving in Hawaii, and one while on a dive in Jamaica. They are truly beautiful to behold in their natural state. They primarily eat jellyfish, so don't toss garbage bags in the ocean, it looks like a jelly fish and the turtles choke on it. My studies of turtles made me feel guilty, back in my youth, with the afore mentioned turtle trapping friend, we put a dent in Illinois turtle population. We were out plinking snakes when we spied a fellow setting turtle traps. Mind you, trapping them was illegal at the time. We watched and noted locations. The next few weeks, we got off school and ran the guys traps. Wrong on many levels, especially since we were using his boat. It took this fellow close to a month to get wise to us. We were out in his boat when we noticed an inordinate amount of water in the boat. The fellow had taken his plug. We had to swim to shore, but I doubt this fellow got his boat from where it sank. My buddy came back the next day and the traps were gone. Thus ended our turtle trapping.

williamlayton · « **Reply #18 on:** October 13, 2003, 01:08:30 PM »

it is scary foolin with turtles but what is about as scary a sport as i have ever witnessed was folks grappling for catfish. they go in streams and rivers-stick their hands and arms in logs-under tha bank, in holes. when they find a catfish holded up they ram their hand down the throat of tha catfish to catch it. NOT ME.
blessings

1911crazy · « **Reply #19 on:** October 13, 2003, 01:23:09 PM »

Quote from: williamlayton

it is scary foolin with turtles but what is about as scary a sport as i have ever witnessed was folks grappling for catfish. they go in streams and rivers-stick their hands and arms in logs-under tha bank, in holes. when they find a catfish holded up they ram their hand down the throat of tha catfish to catch it. NOT ME.
blessings

They have a wooden box under the water with bait the cat fish goes in and can't get out, then they stick their arm down their throats and pull them out. They fill their boat up with big cats. Then the whole town has a catfish fry!!!! NOT ME EITHER!!! BigBill

williamlayton · « **Reply #20 on:** October 13, 2003, 02:58:02 PM »

bigbill-
the ones i seen doin this foolishment roud home didn't have anythang like that--the just went into logs but specially into holes under tha bank. them folks was crazy i tell ya an-well uh-er oh heck-i'm concerned bout you too -anythang can hole up in those traps.
blessings an-er-count them fingers real regular

1911crazy · « **Reply #21 on:** October 14, 2003, 11:41:37 AM »

One of the fishing shows on TV had these guys doing this and even the announcer tried it too?? And how about those turtle hunters?? These guys stand on top of the shells and reach down to figure out where the heads are then grab it and bring it up and out. Sure I'm reachin into the unknown to grab something that can take my hand off one shot I don't think so. I'd rather play with bigfoot or ghosts!!!! BigBill

Now if your up north start looking for turtle tracks!!! The turtles are starting to go into hibernation soon you will actually see lines cut thru the top of the weeds where they make their path to the shoreline to bury themselves in the mud for the long winters nap!!! Look and you will see the paths they take. BigBill

John · « **Reply #22 on:** October 14, 2003, 03:35:57 PM »

When I was a kid, there were some folks that lived a couple of places to the north of us that were rather financially depressed. They pretty much lived off the land, and hunting and fishing was more than just a pass time for them.

I hung around up there quite alot, and learned many things. I had one end of a seine one time out in a shallow crawdad pond, and the father figure of the poor folk had the other end. We were both about chest deep, and he tells me to stop. I did and watched as he slid his hand down his side along his pant leg and stuck his face down in the water a ways, and comes up with a snapper by the tail.

I was amazed by that and asked how he could do that. He pointed out to me how the top shell was made, and how the points on it were to the rear, so all he had to do was keep his foot on it, reach down and feel how the points were pointing on top of the shell and grab its tail.

They kept an old stock tank on the back porch where they kept snappers and soft shells till they had enough for a good feed. I learned to butcher around there too.

williamlayton · « **Reply #23 on:** October 15, 2003, 12:44:53 AM »

well - i'm-shamed :oops: bigbill wern't you sez he does that-sorry. anywho there are some good stories goin on here. we used ta shoot those big ol softshell ones til we foud ya could eat em. they was fun plinkin from a high bank along tha river.
blessings

BigMike · « **Reply #24 on:** November 03, 2003, 03:00:33 PM »

There was a kid in my high school whose dad was a game warden.
Sometimes he told us about some of the more inventive ways that people came up with to poach.
This was one of them.

There was a game perserve near our town.
Lots of geese would either stop over or winter there if it was a warm year.
One day, one of the biologists was taking a count of the numbers on one bay.
He noticed a full grown goose disappear. Then another, and yet one more.
He watched carefully, and saw a line of bubbles headed toward shore.
Called up a warden (Tom's Dad) who met a scuba diver on the shore with a gunny sack full of geese with busted necks.
The diver had a bunch of extra weight on so that he could pull the geese underwater and then break their neck.
No mention of how big the fine was.

Cheers!
BigMike

hunt4570 · « **Reply #25 on:** November 13, 2003, 01:31:47 PM »

You talk about standing on the turtle reaching down to figure out which end the tail was on so you could pick it up.When I was a kid in northern ILL we wuold stand on the bank of a pond and clap real loud,turtles would stick ther head up to investigate(no really try it sometime)anyway we would wade in barefooted that way when you stand on thier back (ridges point backward to the tail)you knew which end to grab.I'm supprised I still have toes,didn't think about it as kids.I haven't thought about turtle hunting for a long time,thanks for jogging my memory.SGB :shock:

John · « **Reply #26 on:** November 14, 2003, 09:26:15 AM »

Clappin fer turtles, huh. I never heard that deal before, but I have heard of folks that were doing snake control in the tanks (ponds to us Okies) down in Texas sayin that if ya shoot a rifle across the water the snakes would stick their heads up.

hunt4570 · « **Reply #27 on:** November 14, 2003, 01:50:28 PM »

John, I moved to texas once,looking at property for sale I thought I was in a war zone....80acres with 2 tanks....ect.and are they PROUD of there land.for the prices they wanted I started asking how many oil wells/gold mines there were.Bought 5 ac waited 2 yrs and left!!! Glad to be gone.They have great hunting laws though.SGB

John · « **Reply #28 on:** November 14, 2003, 02:19:48 PM »

Speakin of huntin, I see where you're from Cleveland. I've heard through the grapevine that right out north of town across the river in the cane there's a good population of feral pigs.....ya know anything bout that?

hunt4570 · « **Reply #29 on:** November 15, 2003, 11:02:24 AM »

John,Yes from what I understand thats correct.There are several public hunting access points up there.I've not tried hunting them but I'd probably enjoy it if you are interested in going out and checking it out sometime.Let me know.SGB :blaster: