Virginia homeowner finds nearly 50-pound ‘aggressive’ snapping turtle in yard

The massive snapping turtle weighed nearly 50 pounds. (Richmond Wildlife Center)

A homeowner in Chesterfield, Virginia, found a rather prehistoric looking creature in their yard last Friday: a massive common snapping turtle.

The turtle, which weighed 48.6 pounds, is “the largest common snapping turtle our center has examined in 5 years,” the Richmond Wildlife Center wrote on its Facebook page Tuesday.

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Though the homeowner, who the wildlife center did not identify, was concerned the reptile had been hit by a car on a nearby road, wildlife officials said the creature was healthy — “only finding a very old and healed carapace fracture” after examining it.

The male snapping turtle was brought to the center because he was “too aggressive” to be examined in the homeowner's yard, officials said, adding the animal was “most likely only basking in the sun after the effects of Michael’s storm.”

The turtle was later taken to a nearby pond. (Richmond Wildlife Center)

The Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries gave the Richmond Wildlife Center permission to take the turtle to a nearby pond “and let him continue to bask in the sun,” the center said.

Spotting a common snapping turtle away from water is uncommon, according to the University of Georgia's Savannah River Ecology Laboratory, as these creatures are “highly aquatic and are seldom observed basking.”

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“At times, however, they may move long distances over land and many die attempting to cross roads,” the ecology laboratory said, explaining snapping turtles can be aggressive and "will strike viciously if captured or cornered out of water."