In recent days, news stories have transpired in which animals surprise humans, either because a baby fox chases his pet home or because of the strange virus that a cat transmitted to its owner. Now, the Fairfax County Police in the United States was stunned when in mid-June they found an alligator turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) through a residential area near Washington.
The turtle was baptized by the agents with the name of Lord Fairfax and weighs almost 30 kilos. The reptile was found near a pond in Alexandria, a town near the capital of the United States.
According to the police who found her, the turtle had allegedly been raised as a pet but her owner released her. A practice that is usually common among people who have turtles as pets, since they often return them to the wild, without being aware of the effects they may have for these specimens.
The Virginia State Game and Fish Department, the agency that participated in the rescue of Lord Fairfax, commented that the rise of having turtles as pets was in the 1960s and 70s, which caused many people buy young red-eared turtles (Trachemys scripta elegans). However, in 1975, the sale of these reptiles was banned because some children in contact with the animals became ill with Salmonella, which also caused a massive release of turtles into the wild. This caused turtle colonies to be created in places never thought of.
This element that could also explain the appearance of Lord Fairfax in the state of Virginia, a locality where the usual turtle species is the one known as serpertine or lizard turtle (Chelydra serpentina). Whereas, the Cayman turtle is native to the mouths of the rivers that converge in the Gulf of Mexico, east of Georgia, north of Florida, and west of east of Texas.
Fairfax police said the animal control division received a call about the presence of “a large turtle.” Upon arrival they found the huge reptile whose appearance is related to dinosaurs. They noted that Lord Fairfax, which weighs 30 kilos, making it a calf, since these specimens can reach a weight greater than 90 kilos.
The alligator turtle is harmless to humans. To eat, this reptile has a bright red worm-shaped tongue, which shows when they are at the bottom of a river, helps it attract its prey. Since Lord Fairfax was raised as a pet, they believe that he may not know how to get his food, so if they hadn’t found him, he would suffer a slow death from starvation or freezing.
Lord Fairfax has a new home at the Virginia Zoo in Norfolk, where he will be part of a new exhibition. For its part, the Virginia Game and Fish Department recommended that when people are considering having a turtle as a pet, they should find out what it takes to give it proper care.
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