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Old October 14th, 2013 #1
Leonard Rouse
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Default Lotti the Snapping Turtle Confounds Bavarians



German Efficiency Is No Match for This Cold-Blooded Assailant
Latest Humane Hunt for a Wayward Critter Transfixes Nation; Where's Lotti?

By Anton Troianovski
Updated Oct. 8, 2013 11:45 p.m. ET

IRSEE, Germany—Mayor Andreas Lieb drained the local pond and resettled the fish. He ringed the perimeter with an electric fence and brought in search dogs. He thought of using a heat-seeking camera, but then the experts weighed in: Reptiles are coldblooded.

"We plan to take this animal alive," Mr. Lieb said.

This town is looking for a turtle.

In early August, an 8-year-old boy emerged from a popular swimming hole with a bleeding ankle. Experts determined that a snapping turtle had likely cut through his Achilles tendon.

A crank letter to the mayor insisted the turtle's attack on an Achilles tendon, of all things, reflected its outrage over Europe's bailout of Greece.

Mr. Lieb's hypothesis is that someone who got tired of keeping a snapping turtle—an illegal pet in Germany—released it into the pond. Police searched several houses looking for turtle traces but no charges have been filed, Mr. Lieb said.

Germany has some of the world's most active animal-rights groups and some of the strictest laws governing dangerous and exotic pets.

The animal's natural habitat is the lakes and streams of North America, where turtles are the stuff of summer camp legend. But here in manicured and tightly ordered Bavaria, the attack on the boy ushered in the latest installment of a modern German tradition: an exhaustive and exhausting, minutely documented search for an animal that isn't where it's supposed to be.

"We need peace," Mr. Lieb said, with the reptile still on the loose and the crush of media attention finally abating. "That is, the turtle needs peace."

Mr. Lieb had never faced so high-profile a task as leading little Irsee through weeks in the national spotlight. But some of those who descended on his town had experience to draw on when it came to wanted creatures.

Wieland Schuhmeir, a search-dog owner, had been in touch with authorities during the 2006 hunt for Bruno the Bear. Newspaper journalist Ingrid Fuchs, of Munich's Süddeutsche Zeitung, had covered the 2011 chase for Yvonne the Cow. Reptile specialist Markus Baur had pursued Eugene the Turtle in 2002 and provided press commentary during the hunt for Sammy the Caiman in 1994 and Klausi the (nonexistent, it turned out) Crocodile in 2012.

Mr. Baur, who heads a reptile rescue center in Munich, said he felt as if he were "in a bad American movie" as he emerged from a meeting with local officials into a sea of cameras and microphones outside City Hall.

Mr. Baur said he urged officials to avoid drastic measures and argued that neither the common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) nor the alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) is aggressive toward humans. The bathing boy must have stepped directly in front of the animal to cause it to bite, he said. "I would go swimming in there anyway," Mr. Baur said.

But Mr. Lieb said he needed to do all he could to ensure the safety of his town's favorite swimming hole. So, days after the accident, Mr. Lieb ordered the volunteer fire department to drain the pond. As the water emptied, the fish were removed to a new home several miles away—but no turtle was found.

Firefighters combed through the surrounding mud and brush. They sealed the perimeter with an electric fence. "No trace of Lotti the Snapping Turtle!" national tabloid Bild thundered.

"No trace of Lotti!" Bild added days later.

Mr. Schuhmeir, who runs a private company nearby that trains dogs to track things like drugs and tobacco, obtained a cloth imbued with snapping-turtle scent and went into action.

It was a novel assignment, Mr. Schuhmeir said, but "at the end of the day, the dogs don't really care what it is they're supposed to look for."

Mr. Schuhmeir's dogs identified a muddy area near the pond. The conclusion: The turtle had holed up in the cave system below. Süddeutsche Zeitung dubbed it "Lotti's Bunker."

A remote-controlled camera was lowered into the cave. At one point, the searchers could make out an open beak and turtle-eyes glinting in the lamplight, Mr. Lieb said. But by the time the fire department reached the spot, the animal was gone.

Now, officials have refilled the pond and taken a more patient tack. They have tried to stay focused despite distracting sightings, such as the one of an elderly man walking next to the pond with a stuffed turtle under his arm. A city employee Googled "turtle trap" and got in touch with Leslie Heinsohn, owner of Heinsohn's Country Store in Frelsburg, Texas. He recommended a 30-inch turtle hoop net.

For some observers in Germany, the frantic search for Lotti has been an occasion to criticize a public debate that often focuses on trivial issues.

"We simply have a cultural problem here," Mr. Baur said. "People are just doing too well. And they try to find issues they can bite into."

Nothing new about that. In 1994, the caiman named Sammy escaped into a pond popular with bathers and was captured by a diver after nearly a week. In 2006, Bruno the Bear found his way into southern Bavaria, attacked several sheep, and, in a heavily criticized finale, was eventually shot and killed.

In 2011, a Bavarian cattle farmer's cow escaped, prompting authorities to warn motorists. It eluded capture for three months. Bild created a Facebook page for the cow, named Yvonne.

German media explain the extensive coverage of the hunts for Lotti, Yvonne, Sammy, Bruno and others as products of a slow news season. (Never mind that August was the start of Germany's quadrennial national election campaign.)

Rudolf Hoffmann, a founder of the Munich reptile center, said the problem is "the increasing estrangement of people from nature." A patient was once airlifted to Munich after a harmless snakebite, Mr. Hoffmann said. Another time, small-town officials asked him whether they should call in the army to seal off a forest in which someone claimed to have seen a deadly West African green mamba.

Back in Irsee, some youngsters have been seen swimming in the refilled pond again.

"They want to show their courage," Mr. Lieb said.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/...11222334782230
 
Old October 14th, 2013 #2
Leonard Rouse
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Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: With The Creepy-Ass Crackahs
Posts: 8,156
Default

IRSEE, Germany—Mayor Andreas Lieb drained the local pond and resettled the fish. He ringed the perimeter with an electric fence and brought in search dogs. He thought of using a heat-seeking camera, but then the experts weighed in: Reptiles are coldblooded.

"We plan to take this animal alive," Mr. Lieb said.

This town is looking for a turtle.

In early August, an 8-year-old boy emerged from a popular swimming hole with a bleeding ankle. Experts determined that a snapping turtle had likely cut through his Achilles tendon.

A crank letter to the mayor insisted the turtle's attack on an Achilles tendon, of all things, reflected its outrage over Europe's bailout of Greece. [lol.]

Mr. Lieb's hypothesis is that someone who got tired of keeping a snapping turtle—an illegal pet in Germany—released it into the pond. Police searched several houses looking for turtle traces but no charges have been filed, Mr. Lieb said.

Germany has some of the world's most active animal-rights groups and some of the strictest laws governing dangerous and exotic pets.

The animal's natural habitat is the lakes and streams of North America, where turtles are the stuff of summer camp legend. But here in manicured and tightly ordered Bavaria, the attack on the boy ushered in the latest installment of a modern German tradition: an exhaustive and exhausting, minutely documented search for an animal that isn't where it's supposed to be.

"We need peace," Mr. Lieb said, with the reptile still on the loose and the crush of media attention finally abating. "That is, the turtle needs peace."

Mr. Lieb had never faced so high-profile a task as leading little Irsee through weeks in the national spotlight. But some of those who descended on his town had experience to draw on when it came to wanted creatures.

Wieland Schuhmeir, a search-dog owner, had been in touch with authorities during the 2006 hunt for Bruno the Bear. Newspaper journalist Ingrid Fuchs, of Munich's Süddeutsche Zeitung, had covered the 2011 chase for Yvonne the Cow. Reptile specialist Markus Baur had pursued Eugene the Turtle in 2002 and provided press commentary during the hunt for Sammy the Caiman in 1994 and Klausi the (nonexistent, it turned out) Crocodile in 2012.

Mr. Baur, who heads a reptile rescue center in Munich, said he felt as if he were "in a bad American movie" as he emerged from a meeting with local officials into a sea of cameras and microphones outside City Hall.

Mr. Baur said he urged officials to avoid drastic measures and argued that neither the common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina) nor the alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii) is aggressive toward humans. The bathing boy must have stepped directly in front of the animal to cause it to bite, he said. "I would go swimming in there anyway," Mr. Baur said.

But Mr. Lieb said he needed to do all he could to ensure the safety of his town's favorite swimming hole. So, days after the accident, Mr. Lieb ordered the volunteer fire department to drain the pond. As the water emptied, the fish were removed to a new home several miles away—but no turtle was found.

Firefighters combed through the surrounding mud and brush. They sealed the perimeter with an electric fence. "No trace of Lotti the Snapping Turtle!" national tabloid Bild thundered.

"No trace of Lotti!" Bild added days later.

Mr. Schuhmeir, who runs a private company nearby that trains dogs to track things like drugs and tobacco, obtained a cloth imbued with snapping-turtle scent and went into action.

It was a novel assignment, Mr. Schuhmeir said, but "at the end of the day, the dogs don't really care what it is they're supposed to look for."

Mr. Schuhmeir's dogs identified a muddy area near the pond. The conclusion: The turtle had holed up in the cave system below. Süddeutsche Zeitung dubbed it "Lotti's Bunker."

A remote-controlled camera was lowered into the cave. At one point, the searchers could make out an open beak and turtle-eyes glinting in the lamplight, Mr. Lieb said. But by the time the fire department reached the spot, the animal was gone.

Now, officials have refilled the pond and taken a more patient tack. They have tried to stay focused despite distracting sightings, such as the one of an elderly man walking next to the pond with a stuffed turtle under his arm. A city employee Googled "turtle trap" and got in touch with Leslie Heinsohn, owner of Heinsohn's Country Store in Frelsburg, Texas. He recommended a 30-inch turtle hoop net.

For some observers in Germany, the frantic search for Lotti has been an occasion to criticize a public debate that often focuses on trivial issues.

"We simply have a cultural problem here," Mr. Baur said. "People are just doing too well. And they try to find issues they can bite into."

Nothing new about that. In 1994, the caiman named Sammy escaped into a pond popular with bathers and was captured by a diver after nearly a week. In 2006, Bruno the Bear found his way into southern Bavaria, attacked several sheep, and, in a heavily criticized finale, was eventually shot and killed.

In 2011, a Bavarian cattle farmer's cow escaped, prompting authorities to warn motorists. It eluded capture for three months. Bild created a Facebook page for the cow, named Yvonne.

German media explain the extensive coverage of the hunts for Lotti, Yvonne, Sammy, Bruno and others as products of a slow news season. (Never mind that August was the start of Germany's quadrennial national election campaign.)

Rudolf Hoffmann, a founder of the Munich reptile center, said the problem is "the increasing estrangement of people from nature." A patient was once airlifted to Munich after a harmless snakebite, Mr. Hoffmann said. Another time, small-town officials asked him whether they should call in the army to seal off a forest in which someone claimed to have seen a deadly West African green mamba.

Back in Irsee, some youngsters have been seen swimming in the refilled pond again.

"They want to show their courage," Mr. Lieb said.

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/...11222334782230[/QUOTE]

[Observe bolded bits and replace turtle with semi-human invader.]
 
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