Turtle So Big It Stopped Traffic

CONCORD, N.C.,None — Why did the chicken cross the road?

Because Kelly Glenn and Joe Coward weren't there to stop it.

Glenn and Coward were planning on spending their Sunday afternoon at Concord Mills mall. They were driving down Redbud Drive when the couple spotted a snapping turtle standing at the edge of the street. The turtle, Glenn said, was bigger around than a steering wheel, and had quite the tail. She said it looked "prehistoric."

"We were just amazed by this turtle," she said.

And the turtle was looking to take a stroll across Redbud Drive.

"It looked like he was waiting for traffic to stop," Glenn said.

Glenn and Coward were concerned the turtle would die crossing the street, so they pulled over. They were hoping to turn it around and send it back down to the field where it came from.

Glenn said the turtle was too heavy for her to pick up. She estimated it was 70 to 80 pounds.

Mandy Jordan, the live animal manager at the Schiele Museum, said snapping turtles' shells can be 8 to 14 inches in length and they can weigh up to 50 pounds. She estimated, based on a picture of the turtle, that it was more than 10 years old.

Whenever Glenn got close to the turtle to try to turn it around, it would snap at her.

"He wasn't afraid of us," she said.

Glenn began nudging the turtle along with her foot. And about 20 minutes later, she succeeded in turning it around. The turtle started to go back to the field.

The turtle took off, leaving Glenn and Coward behind and defying his species' reputation for dallying.

"He was quick (for being) such a big turtle," Glenn said.

A few hours later, after their trip to the mall, Glenn and Coward returned to check on the turtle.

While they couldn't find the turtle, it had left a path through the field. While the weeds in the field were waist high, Glenn said, the path where the turtle walked was matted to the ground.

"That's how heavy he was," Glenn said.

WSOC