(eerie music)
(water splashing)
- Whew, there we go!
That is our first snapping turtle of the day!
Welcome to Dragon Tails, guys.
You've seen me catch hundreds of snapping turtles,
but this is a little bit different.
My personal record is six snapping turtles in a single day.
Today, I'm going to try to catch 10 between four locations.
What's awesome about this
is that snapping turtle is a female,
and is officially our first turtle of the day.
All right, let's get the adventure started, nine more to go.
(dramatic music)
(water sloshing)
Oh, look at this environment, this is awesome.
This is just completely
a green algae
mess of ooze,
perfect snapping turtle habitat.
But it does make them a little difficult to see.
I'm gonna move out and around this tree.
Be really tough to catch anything right here.
- [Friend] Is that a turtle?
- [Coyote] That is a turtle.
- How are you gonna get it? - Tucked back in those logs.
- I'm gonna have to dive all the way back in there.
Are you good?
Oh, he's moving.
(Coyote grunts)
- Oh. - Oh, I don't know,
I'm losing it. - Oh, oh.
- I lost it, I lost it. - He's moving.
- [Coyote] Holy cow, do you see where it is?
- [Friend] This way.
(water sloshing)
- [Coyote] Oh, oh, under me, under me.
Right there, right there.
Right there, go around.
(water splashing)
(Coyote grunts)
- [Friend] Did you feel him?
- No, I didn't.
- I'm pretty sure - Oh!
- that was him.
- That was so close!
So close to catching and miss!
I had the back of its shell,
and then it propelled itself forward,
and pulled right out of my hand.
Well, I'd say that's it for this location.
Okay, we're on to our second location.
There's some huge turtles in here,
but they're very tough to catch.
I actually see one that's up against the side of the pond.
I might be able to get this one by hand.
(soft music)
There.
- Is that him? - Yeah.
- [Friend] How deep is it?
- Really deep.
All right, we're going to the kayak.
I can't catch that turtle.
(birds chirping) (tense music)
(water splashing)
Yes!
Got one!
Yeah, there we go!
That's a good turtle, right there.
Whew!
Okay. (grunts)
In the boat with you, buddy.
(turtle snaps)
This is definitely the most difficult part right here,
getting the turtle in your boat,
and then getting it back into a controlled setting.
Not the biggest turtle in here but we got one.
Check that out!
Definitely bigger than the first turtle we caught today.
This turtle is actually named Winston,
only the second time I have ever caught this dragon.
And look at that nose.
The beak is a little worn down,
but this is still a very, very healthy
common snapping turtle.
All right, we have seen three turtles.
We have caught two.
I think it's time that we move on to the next location,
and see if we can up our numbers.
All right, let's get this guy back into the water.
(turtle splashes)
Okay, location number three,
one of my favorite spots in Gahanna, Ohio,
And I already see a snapping turtle
out there moving in the mud.
We're going straight into this.
(tense music)
There he is, he's gonna start moving.
(water sloshing)
Oh, just like that!
Wow!
There we go.
Turtle number three.
And this is one of the most famous turtles
here in central Ohio.
His name is Homer.
I've named all the turtles in this location
after mythological Greek gods.
And this is one of the most dominant reptiles in this spot.
Now, not as big and as heavy as some of the other turtles
that we see in other locations,
but definitely just as angry.
Well, how about that?
Walking right up, that is turtle number three of the day.
Very, very sharp claws on this turtle.
Okay, let's see who else we can find.
Looking good, buddy.
There we go.
All right!
That's a great start for this location.
Okay, we're heading back in to here.
See if we can find some more turtles.
- [Friend] This is really good for our numbers, right?
- [Coyote] That is a perfect start.
- [Friend] I mean for our time.
- Yes!
That's gonna help us, here's another turtle right here.
Right here. - Oh, ho, ho!
- That is Hercules!
Whoo!
Homer and Hercules back-to-back.
Look at that.
This turtle is the biggest turtle
that lives in this location.
How about that?
Back to back-to-back turtles right next to each other.
- Oh, that is great. - Unbelievable.
What a beautiful common snapping turtle.
And I am very happy to see
that he is healthy and doing well.
Hi, buddy, how are you?
Does it go, "Hey, Coyote, how are you?"
All right, that is four turtles now.
I'm gonna place him right back here.
Watch your toes.
And we'll see who else we can find.
All right, off you go.
How about that?
- [Friend] Whoo!
- Our numbers just like that are back in our favor.
I'd say that's pretty good for this location.
We caught two of the three turtles
that live in this very small, urban swamp.
That brings our total count up to four.
We're almost halfway there.
And we still got the best location to come.
That was huge.
That may be the fastest I've ever caught
two very sizeable snapping turtles back-to-back.
(door thuds)
(rock music)
All right, guys, last location.
Do you believe in miracles?
Can I catch six turtles in the next two hours
at this location?
Only time will tell.
We got one time around the pond.
Here we go!
Now the sunlight is definitely helping us right now.
I can see right down to the bottom.
So if there is turtle hunting or moving,
I should be able to see it.
- [Friend] There's one right there, right in front of you.
Oh, he's a big one.
(water splashing)
Got him! - Oh, he's a big one!
- Oh, the water's deep.
Completely getting swallowed in the water.
Damn, it's cold!
But that is a huge turtle!
One of the biggest turtles that lives in this location.
The turtle known as Big Daddy.
And that is wow, officially our fifth turtle of the day.
I'm just gonna let him go.
We gotta keep moving.
Here we go, moving on.
See you later, big guy.
Wow, what a catch!
Yes!
Now my waders are completely full of water,
I might need to drain them.
Yeah!
Snapper right there, turtle, turtle, turtle.
It's Hubert.
(water splashes)
No, not, look at this guy!
Yes, look at that!
Turtle number six!
(Coyote laughing)
Wow, I don't know what this turtle is.
I've actually never caught it before in this body of water.
But that is turtle number six.
I've officially tied my personal best.
Six turtles in a single day.
We've only got four more to go.
How awesome is that?
- Whoo! - Whoo!
That is one stinky, snapping turtle right there.
All right, put him right back in.
And let's see if we can get number seven.
Oh, we're heating up now.
Yes!
What's exciting about this
is that if I catch a seventh turtle,
that will be my new personal record
for most turtles caught in a day.
Got a snapping turtle right here, hunkered down,
just hiding.
Come here, buddy.
There we go!
Look at that!
(friend laughing) Turtle number seven!
- [Friend] Whoo!
- Wow!
There we have it, that's seven!
That's my new personal record in a single day!
- Nice! - Not a huge turtle.
But that is number seven.
Wow, this is a really good-looking little turtle.
Some of the claws are kind of nubbed off in the front,
probably from fighting with another snapping turtle
at some point.
Okay, this guy's going right back into the mud.
See you, buddy.
Whoo, don't bite me.
- Feisty. - Okay, turtle number eight.
Let's find it.
It's tough because I want to go as fast as possible
'cause we're running out of time.
But we really have to glide slowly
when you're looking for snapping turtles
because if you drift too far past one,
you'll have no chance of catching it.
Big turtle right there, it's Oscar.
It's Oscar!
(tense music)
Here we go.
(water splashing)
- [Friend] Whoo!
- Yes!
Big, big, big turtle - Oh, man.
- right there.
Whoo!
There we have it.
That is an absolute gigantor. (friend laughing)
It's Oscar! (friend laughing)
Oh, my goodness, it's Oscar.
This is the largest snapping turtle in this body of water.
And he means business.
Look at the size of him.
Holy mackerel!
That is turtle number eight right there.
Oh, I'm losing him, oh, he's so slippery!
Oh, wow, wow, wow, wow, wow!
Look at the size of that dragon.
Oh, my gosh!
He is so incredibly heavy.
- [Friend] Is that the biggest one so far?
- This is the biggest one without question.
- [Friend] Whoa!
- This is the largest snapping turtle
ow, in this body of water.
And he is as prehistoric as it gets.
All right, guys, there it is, turtle number eight.
Nine and 10 is all that's left.
All right, guys, we are almost out of light.
The water is perfectly calm though, right now.
Can we catch turtles nine and 10?
Let's see what happens.
What's crazy about this location,
is there's probably 30 turtles,
maybe more that live in here.
(gentle music)
- [Friend] The sun is behind the cloud.
- It's definitely hurting me right now.
Between that and the fact that I can not,
even the shallow water is extremely murky.
Man, if our conditions were just a little bit better,
I think we would've gotten it.
All right, we'll go back up through here.
I think that'll do it.
Valiant effort.
(Coyote sighs)
This close.
We topped out at eight turtles today.
Ah, I look back at that one turtle that I missed.
We could've made it to nine!
But in the end,
I did beat my personal record
which was six turtles in a single day.
And I can't be too disappointed.
Not only did we catch Big Daddy, we also caught Oscar,
the largest turtle that lives here at Thoreau Lake.
And that's the story of snapping turtles right there.
The legend, you're always going after the next big turtle.
In this instance it was,
can I catch 10 turtles in a single day?
I was close, so close!
I feel like if the conditions
had been just a little bit better,
if the water had been a little clear,
if there may have been a little less wind,
and a little more sun, we may have pulled it off.
But hey!
Eight turtles in a single day isn't bad.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave, stay wild.
We'll see you on the next adventure.
All right, that's the day!
(wild music)