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65-pound alligator snapping turtle found in neighborhood

By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

Alligator snapping turtle An alligator snapping turtle, which is native in rivers that empty into the Gulf of Mexico, was found in a neighborhood in Northern Virginia. (Fairfax County Police/Twitter)

By Natalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. — Animal control had an interesting call in Fairfax County, Virginia.

Animal Protection Police said they received multiple calls reporting a massive snapping turtle, but it wasn’t the variety that’s common to that area. Virginia is home to the “common” snapping turtle or Chelydra serpentina. But the one that was found crawling around Alexandria was an alligator snapping turtle that lives in rivers that flow into the Gulf of Mexico, as well as being found in Georgia, the Florida panhandle and East Texas, WUSA reported.

The turtle weighed about 65-pounds. Police believe he had been living near a pond or storm drain, The Washington Post reported. They can grow to weigh about 200 pounds.

He was taken to the Fairfax County Animal Shelter before being taken to his new home at the Virginia Zoo. He also got a new name to go with his new home — Lord Fairfax.

Officials believe he may have been a captive-bred turtle that was released, the Post reported.

Cox Media Group

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