Gregg Trusty/LSUS News

My, What a Big Mouth You Have

Graduate student Vic Bogosian III carefully holds an alligator snapping turtle, also called a “loggerhead,” purchased last summer from a commercial trapper who would have sold it for its meat. Alligator snappers are slow-growing turtles – it takes up to 15 years for some to reach sexual maturity – that can weigh more than 250 pounds. They are the only turtle known to lure their prey, using a pink, worm-like lure in their mouths to attract fish and other predaceous organisms into their jaws. They were once very abundant throughout the Southeast, but overhunting in the 70’s and 80’s led to them being declared endangered or of special concern in every state of their range. Louisiana was the last state to declare a moratorium on commercial trapping, which went into effect in September. Bogosian is releasing several alligator snappers into the Red River Education and Research Park (C. Bickham-Dickson Park) with signal-emitting radios attached to track them to see what their behavior is when released into an unfamiliar area.