A man captured a snapping turtle lounging near a stream in Chicago. The footage of the well-fed turtle quickly went viral after the man, in awe of its size, dubbed it “Chonkosaurus”
Last weekend, Joey Santore and a friend were kayaking along the Chicago River when they came across the enormous snapping turtle perched atop a large chain slung over what appeared to be decaying logs.
The turtle was called the “Chicago River Snapper aka Chonkosaurus” in a jittery video that he posted on Twitter.
Santore can be heard on the video sounding astounded by the turtle’s size, which was showing folds of flesh that went far beyond its shell.
“Look at this guy. We got a picture of this most beautiful sight. Look at the size of that … thing,” says Santore while cursing. “Look at that beast. Hey, how ya doing guy? You look good. You’re healthy.”
Given its size, Chris Anchor, the chief wildlife biologist at Forest Preserves of Chicago County, said the snapping turtle Santore filmed is fairly rare. He claimed it’s also odd to see reptiles lazing beside rivers, but that it probably just came out of hibernation.
“So my guess is that this animal had crawled out of the river to try and gather as much heat as it could in the sunshine,” Anchor said.
“Turtles this big will consume anything they can get their mouth around,” he continued, at the same time warning people to stay away from any snapping turtles they might find.
“Enjoy it. Leave it alone,” Anchor said.
