Beware of the Snapping Turtles, they are on the move

Our Snapping Turtles are on the move right now.  Mother's are beginning to leave the confines of our course lakes to find a place to lay their eggs.  In most cases, they travel over the hill across 15, 16, 17, 18, 1, and 2 and find a nice soft and wet place along the creek in the area of 1 and 2 to lay their eggs.  They are a tough and sometimes mean creature that do not like to be bothered.  I was mowing greens yesterday around noon when I saw vehicles avoiding an object on the main road near the tenth tee.  I figured it was some kind of wildlife but was not sure.  As I approached the object after mowing the 9th green, it turned toward my mower as I got closer.  It was not fooling around with me.  I went and picked up a bunker rake and allowed it to clamp down on the rake and I drug it off of the path.  It was not happy at all.

I'm not really fond of these creatures but do tolerate them on our property.  If you come out in the early mornings while there is still dew on the ground, you can look for the drag lines that are about 1 foot wide through the grass where a turtle has made its path toward her egg laying grounds are back to her place in the bottom of our muddy lakes. 

In most cases, you will not encounter one of these creatures but if you happen to come upon one, I would just let them go their happy way.  If they would be in an area of play, you could always alert the pro shop and we will move them out of the way for you to play through.

Snapping turtle going past the red tee on #2 fairway

This girl's shell is at least 12 inches long and probably 8-10" wide.  She did not turn on me like the one yesterday, she was more interesting in getting to nesting site to deposit her eggs.