Missing snapper a cautionary tale about keeping wild turtles as pets, animal experts say

An eastern Ontario woman says she's devastated by the disappearance of her family's longtime snapping turtle whilewildlife experts say it'sa good reminder that keeping wild turtles as pets is illegal and harmful to the overallpopulation.

Maureen Fennelly of Brockville, Ont., has been caring for Razor the turtle for several years, after her son Joshua first came across the quarter-sized baby snapper in 2009 while it wascrossing a local road with an injured tail.

"[I] called the SPCA," he said via text. "But they [said] they would just put the turtle down as they do not handle turtle rehabilitation."

Joshua Fennellynamed the snapper Razor, after the mutant villainRahzarfromTeenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze.

He brought it home and kept it for eight years, until he got kittensandthe turtle moved in with his mother.

"We put him in the bathtub with rocks and then I would feed him with a pair of tweezers," Maureen Fennellysaid. "I'd say, 'Good morning, Razor,my baby!'I could actually take my hands and just scratch his neck.

"He never knew how to biteor to snap in any manner because he was so spoon-fed."

Razor had the run of the place, could climb stairs, was taken outside for walks and was shownoff to kids during the COVID-19 pandemic, shesaid.

"If I layon the couch, he'd actually come over and stick his head up and he wouldn't stop staring at me until I picked him up and I lay him on my chest and he'd actually have a nap with me."

But Razorwent missing in early September, she said,while in the care of her ex-partner.

Fennelly said she's since spent day and night searching for him, even wading into onecreekuntil she got a foot infection.

"He meant everything to me," she said. "This has been so devastating."

'As close to her as any pet would be'

Joshua Fennelly figures he's spent over $400 on laminated "missing" posters.

"My godkids are devastated as well, because they have seen him their whole life," Joshua said. "They even planned and wanted to take care of him if he outlived me."

Scot Birnie was golfing the 16th hole at the Brockville Country Club on Sept. 13 when he spotted a large turtle on the green and snapped a photo.

He then sawone of the family'sposters and contacted the Fennellys to report he'd seen what he believed was Razor.

"It's not every day you see somebody looking for a pet turtle," Birnie said. "But when I called Maureen, you could tell that this turtle is as close to her as any pet would be close to anybody."

The golf club lent her a cart and let her search the grounds, but Razorremained missing.

Close call

Last week, Maureen Fennellysaw a report on social media about an injured turtle in the Brockville area and, based onphotos, feared the animal which ultimately died on Saturday was Razor.

That didn't turn out to be the case: she visited the Rideau Valley Wildlife Sanctuary in North Gower and concluded the injured turtlewas too bigand didn't have the right shell.

If Razor is found, Maureen said she'sprepared to surrender him.

She said she didn't realize Razorwas a snapping turtle until he grew horns at age eight, and she had recently planned to take Razor to a science and education museum in Brockvilleif they could accommodate him.

"She didn't know that it wasn't legal to keep native wildlife in Ontario as pets, so she didn't deliberately do anything wrong and she wants the best care for him," said Sue Carstairs, the executive and medical director of the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre in Peterborough, Ont.

'Do your research'

Razor's story is a good opportunity to spotlight issues facing turtles, including the importance of even just one turtle to the overall ecosystem, Carstairs said.

"Not many of them make it in the wild. Not many make it to adulthood and to the age that Razor is. So every adult can be very important," she said.

Even if Razor has been in captivity for 14 years, he could, if in good health, be released back into the wild, Carstairssaid although turtles "need to be released where they came from."

They also need an intact habitat, said LeoraBerman, the executive director of Turtle Guardians, an Ontarioconservation group.

Turtles begin imprinting their spatial memories at a young age, Berman said, and can't just be released anywhere.

"It's like asking them to learn an entirely new language, and it often results in their demise," Berman said. "They don't know where they are, they don't know where to hibernate, they wander around lost."

So is there a lesson to be learned from Razor's story?

"When you're caring for another life," Berman said, "first of all, do your research."