Page 90 - 2023 LAKE ST CLAIR GUIDE

Let’s Talk Turtles
Cont. from Pg. 88
Two species of Snapping and Soft- “SHELL” length. Males A “Map Turtle” floats to farm raise since
Shell turtles are traditionally thought of get larger than females we would have
as food. Although not a common activi- so 98% over 13” will be through the Belle Maer to heat the water.
ty in Michigan, with a Recreational Fish- male to not affect repro- Channel looking for a Knowing the turtle
ing License, you may harvest these tur- duction. One per day Safe Harbor only grows in the
tles under very strict regulation. There and only two in posses- summer and hiber-
is a season from July 15 to September sion, which means you nates in the winter
15. Outside of these dates you may not need to eat one before is too expensive in
hold, touch, or hunt. You are allowed catching another one. our climate to farm
to har- There is no “commer- raise.
Larry vest one cial” natural harvest of How old are
from of these Snapping turtle in Mich- the turtles in my
species
Ohio per day. igan. If you see it on a pictures? The pic-
tures are of Snap-
menu, it’s not from Mich-
Snapping igan. It is most likely ping Turtle males.
must be at farm raised down south. Once a Snapping
least 13” in Michigan is also too cold turtle’s shells ex-
ceeds 13” inches
it’s a 99% probability it’s male. Unfor-
tunately, identifying the age of a turtle
is not yet possible. Certainly the large
Snapper’s in my photos are over 20
years old, but DNR Biologist Tom Go-
niea could not say whether they are 25
or 75 and it is not known actually how

Cont. to 108
DREAM BIG!

Although I love to eat & try everything,
for those that have dined with me know
my first choice would be MEAT along with my
favorite vegetable mashed potatoes... that is why
while dining on a salad finding a “cucumber garban-
zo” face staring me down made me think of the Mon-
ty Python quote.... If God did not intend for us to eat
animals, why did he make them out of meat? Our
area serves THE BEST burgers with everyone hav-
ing their own special recipes... so when in doubt, explore the burger portion
of the menu while dining around the waterfront-yum.
A few of many of my fav burgers are shown above, but I have several more fav’s including
Lighthouse “Slap on the Wrist” burger at right, anything with jalapeño is always great! Above are
Brown’s Sriracha Burger, Zef’s Dockside Peanut Butter & Jelly Burger, and Port O’Call’s Thousand
Island Burger.

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