Shelling out

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March 27, 2007

Turtling business coming to Navarro County

By Janet Jacobs The Corsicana Daily Sun Tue Mar 27, 2007, 09:24 AM CDT

One day, the turtle sunning itself on the bank of stock tank in rural Navarro County could find itself in a turtle hatchery outside of Guangdong, China, or even on the menu in a Hong Kong restaurant.

The market for turtles is going up, now that China has basically eaten all its own shelled critters, and has eaten most of Asia’s turtles into near-extinction. Now, the world’s most populous nation is scouring the world for more, and that has led to Texas.

More specifically, to Navarro County.

Texas has very few regulations about catching and exporting turtles, and that has created a business where one never existed before — trapping and selling live fresh-water turtles.

On Thursday, Bob Popplewell, the self-named Turtle Guy, will be speaking at 6:30 p.m. at Gander Mountain about the profitable world of “turtling” or turtle trapping.

“I can catch 30,000 turtles in the summer by myself, but I find it’s better to keep the flow of turtles coming,” Popplewell said in a phone interview. Popplewell’s business of trading in snakes and turtles is headquartered in Santo, Texas, northwest of the Metroplex.

Navarro County is a virtually untapped well of turtles, Popplewell said.

“Most ponds in that area have never been turtled,” he said. “So people will catch a lot more turtles, and they’ll be a lot bigger.”

Popplewell instructs people on how to trap the turtles, how to keep them alive, and how to transport them. The reptiles must be alive, and in good shape to survive the trip to China. How much money a trapper makes depends on what kinds of turtles are caught, and how large they are. Trappers are paid by the pound and types.

“It’s like the cattle market,” Popplewell explained. “It does fluctuate. As of right now, snapping and softshells are high, red-eared turtles are a huge volume. They’re very cheap. This is a supply-and-demand economy.”

The creatures end up in China either as an entree, a pet, or as breeding stock.

Popplewell promotes the business as an ag-type business that allows rural residents to make money.

“When jobs are involved, a community should do everything they can to get behind that,” he said. “This is the most grass-roots form of economic development there ever will be. It’s a muddy pond today, and tomorrow it’s an income stream.”

Trading in wild turtles is perfectly legal, but it’s a question of how long Texas can supply China before all the Texas turtles are gone, too, said Duane Schlitter, program leader for non-game and rare and endangered species with the Texas Parks and Wildlife state agency.

Turtles clean decaying vegetation, eat excess populations of invertebrates, and are an indication of how healthy a river or lake is.

“The populations have to be kept in balance,” Schlitter said. “Turtles are an indication of the health of the river systems.”

Wildlife is generally taken for granted here in Texas, Schlitter pointed out, but other countries see something worth exploiting.

“Texas is home to a large number of species of plants and animals found nowhere else,” he said. “We have lots of numbers of freshwater turtles, and the collectors can empty those watersheds, and when they’re gone, they’re gone.”

Turtles take a long time to reproduce, and to mature, Schlitter said. Of the eggs laid each year, only a few hatch, and fewer still reach maturity. Turtles mature in decades, not months.

In the case of the tortoise-like box turtles, which are in the middle of their mating season now, the problems are the pet trade, and highways, Schlitter said.

“Box turtles reach maturity very slow, and when you take out a few box turtles they can become extinct in that county,” he said.

“Box turtles can’t travel too far looking for a mate, not at the rate they travel.”

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Janet Jacobs may be contacted via e-mail at jacobs@corsicanadailysun.com

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