Rebel Yell
Price: $75
Animal: Alligator Snapping Turtle
Artist: Peter Calvesbert
Made In: England
Status: Fixed Edition
Edition Size: 500
Carving Date: 2007
Release Date: 2/6/2008
In Store Date: 4/20/2008
Dimensions (Inches): 2 x 3.75 x 2.25
S e c r e t s:
Peter says that he wishes all creatures were as interesting as the alligator snapping turtle. It has very powerful jaws which can or cannot (depending on which article you read) snap a broom handle in half. Its longevity is also unclear. One of Peter’s old reference books states the oldest known alligator snapping turtle was 58 years, 9 months, and 1 day when it was accidentally killed at the Philadelphia Zoological Gardens in 1949, but other articles suggest it can live much longer than this. The same book also mentions a 403 lb. specimen caught in the Neosho River, Kansas. The largest verified turtle is only 236 lb. The best story about this turtle is that it was once used to find a corpse in a lake. A man in a boat had the turtle on a long line. When the turtle stopped moving, it was because it was feeding (need we say more)! The interior of this box figurine shows a turtle with an arm in its mouth, a visual depiction of the above story. The words “Bale” and “Dole” refer to the group name for turtles. Neosho River and 403 lbs is written on the lid. The initials C.J.T. reference the Dutch zoologist, Coenraad Jacobus Temminck, who had the turtle named after him (the scientific name for the Alligator Snapping Turtle is Macrochelys Temminck). These turtles lie on the lake bed and wait for prey to be attracted to the worm-like appendage in its open mouth. . .then snap.
