The massive snapping turtle at the center of a now-viral video, fittingly named "Chonkosaurus," may have actually been a pretty rare sight for two kayakers on the Chicago River.
The turtle was caught on cam by two kayakers who hilariously filmed their reaction to its size. Joey Santore said he spotted da "Chicago River Snapper" over the weekend and his footage has gone viral for more reasons than one.
But how common is it?
Chris Anchor, a wildlife biologist with the Forest Preserve District of Cook County, said while snapping turtles aren't uncommon in the Chicago River, the sight is actually unusual.
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"What is uncommon is that a turtle of this size is actually observed," Anchor said. "These turtles live on the bottom of the river and, unlike a painted turtle or red-eared slider, which are very commonly seen basking on rocks and whatnot, snapping turtles are almost never seen. They are only found out of the water right after hibernation, which is what I think was going on with this individual, or when they emerge from the water to lay eggs, and that typically occurs in our area during the month of June. So my guess is that this animal had crawled out of the river to try and gather as much heat as it could in the sunshine."
The kayakers seemed more shocked by the animal's size than its presence, however.
"Great to see this beast thriving here on what was once such a toxic river, but is slowly getting cleaned up & restored," Santore tweeted. "Somebody planted a bunch of native plants up the river from here, too. I can only wonder this things been eating."
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In the video, shared the video with NBC Chicago, Santore is heard sounding stunned by the animal he saw.
"Look at this guy," he says. "We got a picture of this most beautiful sight. Look at the size of that [expletive] thing."
And it turns out, Anchor said that is also not very common.
"It's a very large individual," Anchor said. "Without actually having hands on it I can't tell you exactly how big it was. My guess is that it's something in the 40 Palm class, which would put it at a very mature, very large snapping turtle. Typically we'll handle a dozen or so individuals of that size a year in this part of the of the Chicagoland region. Rarely do they get 50-60 pounds. That's a totally different class animal."
Those who have seen the video know the big question asked by Santore surrounds the turtles eating habits.
Anchor said it will eat just about anything.
"So turtles this big will consume anything they can get their mouth around," he said.
Experts recommend anyone who does witness a snapping turtle does not disturb it or try to capture it, but to instead do what Santore did.
"Enjoy it. Leave it alone," Anchor said.
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