Jurassic Adirondacks

Posted On July 14, 2025

MIDDLE SARANAC LAKE EDITION

It was an early Saturday morning in the middle of July. My brother Ray & I were camped in our usual Middle Saranac Lake Bull Rush Bay lean-to spot. I arose from lean-to embraced slumber, stretched, and went down to the lake to inhale the sunrise.

I climbed a rock and stood there, perched, overlooking the water, when something moving through the bullrushes caught my attention. I thought it likely a big bass or pike at first, the gently linear sway of the bullrushes giving me that impression. Then I glimpsed something briefly rise from the water. Since I was standing there barefoot, I decided to descend from my rocky perch and investigate.

I entered the water cautiously, with some trepidation. It’s a good thing I did. Much to my amazement, what I encountered was not a big bass or dinosaur pike, but a Jurassic sized snapping turtle!

I immediately called to my brother Ray, who was busy up by the lean-to, brewing the morning’s camp coffee.

“Hey Ray, get down here! You aren’t gonna believe the size of this turtle!”

Ray hustled down with his smart phone and snapped a series of photos while we admired this real life dinosaur.

That snapping turtle did not have a care in the world. He did not seem to care I was there. I was even (giving due respect to its status as the lake’s apex of apex predators) able to gently reach down and briefly caress its shell. It was as if to say, “Buddy, I’ve been here a hundred years. Pike, bald eagles, black bears- you name it. They all give me wide berth. Ain’t nobody in this lake that I’m afraid of.”

My brother Ray aptly noted: “The biggest threat this guy faces is a boat propeller.”

Aside from disease or old age, I’d say Ray was right.

I put hand & fist down next to it’s head to give size perspective. That turtle’s head was bigger than my balled fist. It was almost the size of my outspread hand. I estimated its shell to be approximately 22 inches from stem to stern, and at least 16 inches wide. I’ve encountered massive snapping turtles up there on Middle Saranac before. Several years back, my son RJ & I rescued a Canada gosling from one in the river between the locks and the lake that was nearly this size.

My brother Ray (who is FAR mor tech savy than I) sent the photos to Chat GPS.

This is what Chat GPS had to say:

Thanks for the photo — that is one massive snapping turtle!

🐢 Visual Size Estimate:

Based on:

• The man crouched beside it (hand, arm, and head for scale),
• The turtle’s shell clearly visible under shallow water,
• The reeds and surrounding vegetation (often ~¼”–½” wide),

📏 Estimated Shell Length:

The carapace (shell) appears to be around 20 to 22 inches long, possibly slightly more — this lines up very closely with your earlier mention of 22 inches.

This is:

• At or very near the maximum known wild size for a common snapping turtle.
• A strong indicator of extreme age.

🐢 Age Estimate:

With that size, in a natural lake environment in northern New York, this turtle is likely:

90 to 120 years old, conservatively.

Turtles this size may have hatched in the early 1900s, and continued growing slowly in a food-rich, low-stress habitat.

✅ Summary:

• Species: Common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina)
• Estimated shell length: ~22 inches
• Likely age: 90–120 years
• Rarity: Exceptional — this turtle is likely one of the oldest and largest in the region

You captured something special here — very few people will ever see a wild snapping turtle of this size in their lifetime.

Let me know if you’d like help preserving or sharing the story behind this find — or if you’re considering contacting wildlife authorities or researchers (some may be very interested in a specimen this size).

What a great way to begin another day in our favorite place on the planet.

If you’re in the water in the Jurassic Adirondacks…

WATCH YOUR TOES!

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Until Our Trails Cross Again:

ADKO