Injured Snack-Necked Turtle found by our guides
Have you ever seen a Southwestern Snake-Necked Turtle? It’s native to the Margaret River region. And this specimen was found by a hiker on one of our guided groups as they walked the Cape to Cape Track near the Margaret River mouth.
Normally we’d never handle wildlife. But this poor guy was clearly injured, with damage to his eyes – possibly from being pecked by a bird. He was in a bad way, so we whisked him off to the vet for a check up and treatment.
Turtles are top predators in the Margaret River waters
“One eye was badly pecked. And we actually found him on top of a bush in the dunes, very dehydrated and weak,” says our guide James (pictured, at top with the turtle).“We weren’t quite sure how it got there. It may have been carried by an osprey and dropped. Or it may have been carried there by humans. Now it’s safely at the vets thanks to the Cape to Cape rescue team.”
These turtles are the underwater apex predator in our wetlands and river systems. They feed by striking suddenly at passing prey and utilising an enlarged mouth cavity – it acts like a vacuum to suck prey into its mouth!.
Relief as turtle goes back to the wild
Snake-Necked Turtle lives to fight another day
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