On Tuesday the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission announced the death of what’s believed to be the world’s largest common snapping turtle, a prehistoric-looking specimen known as Big Snap Daddy. The turtle was something of a living legend among visitors to the Schramm Education Center’s, which housed the turtle in its aquarium in Gretna, Nebraska, for some 30 years.
The wildlife agency announced the news on Facebook, to the dismay of adults and kids alike. Experts estimate “Big Snap” was between 96 and 100 years old, which is about as old as this species gets in captivity. (Wild common snapping turtles have a shorter lifespan of somewhere around 35 years, depending who you ask, which reflects the hazards of their environment.) That means this turtle was alive through the Great Depression, he hatched before Babe Ruth signed on with the Yankees, and long before whitetail deer fully returned to the landscape.
“Big Snap’s health declined rapidly over the weekend, leading to the decision to humanely euthanize him on Monday,” the post reads. “While heartbreaking, this decision was made with Big Snap’s comfort and quality of life in mind. His goodbye was peaceful and painless, and he passed surrounded by the staff who have loved and cared for him.”
The turtle, captive specimen though he was, helped educate tens of thousands of visitors (if not more) about the lives of wild snapping turtles. Many weighed in in the comments, revealing that Big Snap Daddy educated scores of students and even had his own line of t-shirts.
The turtle weighed 102 pounds, which is huge compared to an upper weight range of about 45 pounds for his wild counterparts. The largest wild-caught common snapping turtle on record weighed 75 pounds. At the time of his own capture nearly three decades ago, Big Snap weighed about 47 pounds.
He was pulled from the Missouri River near Peru, Nebraska by a fisherman who intended to eat him. Ultimately, “he decided that because the turtle was so large, he wanted to share him and let other people see him,” wrote Nebraskaland Magazine in 2023.
Common snapping turtles take somewhere between 15 to 20 years to reach maturity, according to the Ontario Wildlife Foundation, which means adult mortality has a substantial impact on species health.
“During the summer, many turtles cross roads in search of mates, food and nest sites,” according to OWF. “This is risky for turtles, as they are too slow to get out of the way of moving vehicles. Eggs in nests around urban and agricultural areas are subject to predators such as raccoons and skunks.”
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While the turtle is considered a species of least concern, its population is generally decreasing, and states usually have regulations on its take. The common snapping turtle is most vulnerable in localized areas and not necessarily across its native range, which stretches from the entire Eastern U.S. west to the foothills of the Rockies. In some places — particularly in the South, though apparently in some corners of Nebraska, too — common snapping turtles are considered delicious and eaten, most often, in soup.
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