News

Turtle draws crowd at boat show

CEDAR FALLS - Of course there was the bright, shiny boats, campers and all sorts of watercraft.

But that wasn't what caught the attention of attendees at the Iowa Boat, RV and Vacation Show Saturday at the UNI-Dome. Throngs of people flocked to a large water tank to see Crunch, the 165-pound alligator snapping turtle.

Crunch was brought to the show by Randy Reed, curator of the Blackwater Turtle Refuge based in Churubusco, Ind. Reed began taking care of Crunch 21 years ago.

"He'll outlive me by about 200 years, so I can't really own him," he said.

The turtle was found 31 years ago in Mississippi by a trapper. At the time, alligator snapping turtles were caught and sold for their meat. The trapper brought it to a local slaughterhouse, where employees were surprised by its size. Instead of killing it, the slaughterhouse sold it to a...read more.