Man catches 'vicious' turtle in Brit lake

BIRMINGHAM, England, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- An English angler says a giant snapping turtle that bit his line while he was fishing with friends near Birmingham refused to give up the hook without a fight.

Drew Hammonds, 37, said he initially did not know what he was reeling in from Earlswood Lake, so his first instinct was to run when he saw the spiked plates of the alligator snapping turtle emerging from the water, the Daily Mail reported Wednesday.

"I thought it was a crocodile or an alligator. I dropped my rod and ran, then I turned back and realized it was a turtle," said Hammonds. "It was hissing and spitting when we caught it -- it was really vicious."

Hammonds said he and his friends feared the turtle might be injured by the hook in its mouth so they resolved to remove it.

"It kept snapping at me so I had to be careful. In the end I used metal forceps to cut through the hook," he said.

Paul Eversfield, a turtle specialist with the British Chelonia Society, said alligator snapping turtles are native to southern U.S. states and can grow to more than 220 pounds. He said the turtle was likely brought to Britain as a hatchling and either escaped or was abandoned in the water.