The strange-looking turtle was found in a lake in the northern English county of Cumbria, near the Scottish border.
Such turtles do not live near the Scottish border. Not even close.
The turtle found in Urswick Tarn, a small lake in the county of Cumbria, is a species of alligator snapping turtle. It is an exotic species belonging to the loggerhead turtle that can grow to a size of tens of kilograms and normally lives in the southern parts of the United States, Central and South America. It can live to be tens of years old, in captivity up to 70 years old.
It was found in Cumbria by a dog walker who photographed his find and asked for help with identification on Facebook. Local turtle fancier Denise Chamberlain recognized the species and went to catch the creature with the help of a water tank and a plastic shopping basket.
– Fortunately, it was quite cold and the turtle was cold, so it wasn’t very difficult to put it in the shopping basket, said Denise Chamberlain For the Guardian.
At home, Chamberlain checked the turtle’s condition, fed it some raw chicken and took it to a vet in Barrow-in-Furness. From there, it will be transferred to a center specialized in reptiles.
At the vet, it was named “Fluffy”, i.e. Pörrö.
Pörrö’s history can only be guessed at. It was probably abandoned by some exotic pet owner. Keeping alligator snapping turtles is not banned in Britain, but their care is difficult and expensive, so the pet owner might have had second thoughts about owning a snapping snapping turtle.
– Here at the clinic, we don’t often see reptiles. When they come here, there is often wrong care or neglect in the background. It is important that people familiarize themselves properly with the sport they like, reminded the owner of the clinic, a veterinarian Kate Hornby.