Gently, from behind, floated a faint plea for help. "Excuse me, could you help me?"
Turning to offer our services, we saw a middle aged woman stretching to reach her fishing tackle without letting go of her fishing pole. Happy to help we walked over and extracted from the tackle a pair of pliers.
"You have a snag?" we asked.
"I think I caught a turtle," she said with some reluctance.
She pulled on the line until at the surface appeared a turtle. The woman reached for the fishing line with the pliers ready to cut the turtle loose complete with hook in mouth, 3 feet of line, and bobber. Before she had the chance, I grabbed the line below her hand and lifted the turtle out of the water. The woman froze, unexpectedly, as if death itself were being pulled slowly closer. I reached my left hand over my right, grabbed another armful of line, and lifted the turtle over the hand rail and onto the dock. Dashing in what appeared to be a search for safety, the woman disappeared behind a cypress tree.
"Careful," she said in a voice craggy with fear, "it could be a snapper."
Cautiously, I held the turtle in place with one hand while handling the pliers in the other to work the hook loose. Ben, noticing that four hands in that situation were better than two, approached the turtle and took over surgical procedures while I held our green patient in place. Despite the turtle's thrashing, Ben's experienced hands worked deftly to extract the hook.
Feeling good for having done the daily good turn, we prepared to return to the turtle the cypress filled black water of home. What happened next can only be described by the miracle of digital video. Enjoy...and...You're Welcome!
6 years ago
6 comment(s):
Ahhh... it's oney a babey! Didn't look like a snapper using my 'nocks through this tiny wire, but it did run like one.
Be careful making light of the lady or Karma just may come and get you. Worse than a pit bull, I watched a big guy from Oklahoma gingerly pick one up by the carapace from behind, only to have that sucker reach its neck clear back around and latch onto the guys hand. There was lots o' screamin' and blood for over 15 minutes until someone went for a hatchet and the thing decided to let go. The guy was ok, after the skin grafts, and does well with the ladies at the bar now.
The talk around the beach after the ambulance left was that "ev'n a fool knows bettern' to pick up a snapper"; and that "the oney way ta get em' off is ta either cut ofen their head or ta hold yer arm under the water." [sort of like not letting a circling wolf "smell" your fear or playing dead for an attacking bear]
I'm glad it was a turtle and not a slippery baby you threw on the deck
I'm SO glad I was there to witness that! It was a fair trade for not seeing any gators :)
Dude, where is all your hair? Has being a daddy changed you that much already?
Classic! Very smooth Brandon!
Man vs Wild, I am very impressed that you escaped without being bitten. That is the best video I have seen in a while. I think you might want to keep those chasing skills before Elle walks.
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