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from the Pensacola News Journal
Outing yields 100-pound 'Goliath'
Emily Garber
[email protected]
It has spikes along its back, a scaled tail, and large, snapping jaws.
No, it's not a prehistoric creature. It's an alligator snapping turtle, which Jay resident Glen Phillips, 15, found while "turtle-catching" Thursday on Escambia River with his family.
"This is the biggest one I've ever seen in my life," Glen said Saturday. "Its head is bigger than mine."
Glen, who has been turtle-catching since he was 2 years old, named the turtle "Goliath" — with help from his younger brother, Jeremiah, 12. Glen estimated that Goliath weighs about 100 pounds. Its body is 22 inches wide and 23 inches long. The turtle's head measures 8½ inches long and it has a 22-inch tail, Glen said.
After Goliath got caught on Glen's hook, his father, Jerry Phillips Sr., took Goliath off the line and immediately got bitten several times.
"I have a bad back, and it locked up," Phillips, 53, said. "I kept rassling with him."
After Goliath let go of his dad's leg, Glen dragged the turtle a quarter-mile to their truck to take home.
Alligator snapping turtles are the largest freshwater turtles in North America, found almost exclusively in the Southeastern United States.
The spikes on Goliath's back are worn down, which Glen said indicates the turtle is old and has hidden under many rocks in the river.
The Phillips family has many mounted turtle heads in their home, but they are not sure what they're going to do with Goliath.
"I'm not going to kill this one yet," Glen said.
Outing yields 100-pound 'Goliath'
Emily Garber
[email protected]
It has spikes along its back, a scaled tail, and large, snapping jaws.
No, it's not a prehistoric creature. It's an alligator snapping turtle, which Jay resident Glen Phillips, 15, found while "turtle-catching" Thursday on Escambia River with his family.
"This is the biggest one I've ever seen in my life," Glen said Saturday. "Its head is bigger than mine."
Glen, who has been turtle-catching since he was 2 years old, named the turtle "Goliath" — with help from his younger brother, Jeremiah, 12. Glen estimated that Goliath weighs about 100 pounds. Its body is 22 inches wide and 23 inches long. The turtle's head measures 8½ inches long and it has a 22-inch tail, Glen said.
After Goliath got caught on Glen's hook, his father, Jerry Phillips Sr., took Goliath off the line and immediately got bitten several times.
"I have a bad back, and it locked up," Phillips, 53, said. "I kept rassling with him."
After Goliath let go of his dad's leg, Glen dragged the turtle a quarter-mile to their truck to take home.
Alligator snapping turtles are the largest freshwater turtles in North America, found almost exclusively in the Southeastern United States.
The spikes on Goliath's back are worn down, which Glen said indicates the turtle is old and has hidden under many rocks in the river.
The Phillips family has many mounted turtle heads in their home, but they are not sure what they're going to do with Goliath.
"I'm not going to kill this one yet," Glen said.
