Snapping turtle stops traffic

• Tweet

CONCORD, N.C., Aug. 2 (UPI) -- A giant snapping turtle stopped traffic on a North Carolina road, drivers say.

Kelly Glenn and Joe Coward were driving to the Concord Mills mall Sunday when they saw a snapping turtle standing on the edge of a street, The Gaston Gazette in Gastonia reported.

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

Concerned for the turtle's safety, the pair pulled over. Glenn said the turtle was bigger than a steering wheel and too heavy for her to pick up, estimating the reptile at 70 to 80 pounds.

Whenever Glenn would get close to it to try to turn it around toward the field where it had come from, the turtle would snap at her. She ending up prodding it with her foot. After about 20 minutes, Glenn had the turtle heading back toward the field.

"He was quick [for being] such a big turtle," Glenn said.

When returning from the mall a few hours later, the couple stopped to check on the turtle. They didn't see it, but noticed its path through the field full of waist-high weeds. Glenn said the trail left by the turtle was matted to the ground.

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

Mandy Jordan, the live animal manager at the Schiele Museum, estimated that the turtle was more than 10 years old, based on a picture of it.