Original subtitles

I'm Coyote Peterson, welcome to "Dragon Tails."

April 18 right now-- the last time you guys saw me,

it was freezing cold out here.

My ears were turning red and I was dreaming

about the monsters that live under the water

here at Thoreau Lake.

And now, as you can see, the birds are out singing,

beautiful blue sky, it's warm.

And it's time to get our hands on some prehistoric looking

turtles.

All great stories begin within the pages of a book.

And this tale is no different.

As a child, my introduction to the snapping turtle

came through an old weathered book titled

"Men of the Mississippi."

It was the story of a tiny turtle who spent his life

traveling the length of the Mississippi

River eventually growing into an enormous ancient looking

creature--

a creature that to any child's imagination

was, without question, a dragon.

That's totally me, right there, as a little kid,

catching small snapping turtles, putting them in little cans,

and keeping them for a couple of days.

It totally brings back some crazy memories.

And this is perfectly representative of the turtles

that live out here in Thoreau Lake and a lot

of the snapping turtles that I'm going

to get you up close with on this first season of "Dragon Tails."

Men's epic voyage ignited a fire of curiosity in my mind

and I began researching tales of these enormous turtles.

Hours were spent in the library reading old articles,

examining aging photographs, absorbing the folklore,

and daydreaming about one day having

my own white whale encounter.

There was no question, snapping turtles had

me in the jaws of their legend.

As a child, I caught many snapping turtles.

But it wasn't until a few years ago

when my education in video production

gave me the chance to start putting my dragon

tales in front of a camera.

These videos are what led me to breaking trail.

I got it!

It's a big turtle!

And it was your love for those animal encounters

which is now giving me the chance to follow my dream

of creating Dragon Tails.

That is the common snapping turtle.

And he is about the size of the dinosaur.

A series of adventures that follows a trail of mystery

and folklore in the hopes of finding

a world record snapping turtle.

Every time that I come out into the environment,

I like to just sit back and absorb it, take it all in.

I'm the stranger here right now.

I'm not a natural part of this ecosystem.

But I'm going to come in and I'm going to get

close with its animal life.

So I like to just absorb myself in the moment, touch the water,

feel the mud, become one with everything

that I'm about to get into.

And it's scary.

You guys might wonder what it's like to get on a kayak

and jump off into water that's over your head

with a giant predatory reptile.

It drives your nerves, that's for sure.

A lot of adrenaline, and you just

hope that the environment releases

you when it's all done.

Because you can disappear underneath the water

and the mud.

Welcome to Thoreau Lake, a thriving ecosystem

set within Blendon Woods Metro Park and the place

where I've been researching a population

of common snapping turtles for the past five years.

All right.

So right now, we're going to take

a little tour around the outside of Thoreau Lake.

This is the largest body of water

here at Blendon Woods Metro Park.

And buried down in that water, in that mud,

is some enormous snapping turtles.

In total, this body of water is a refuge to over 30

of these mud dragons.

And I adore each and every one of them.

I love these turtles the way you might love your dog,

your cat, or your children.

I know it sounds odd, maybe even a little crazy,

but these turtles are my inspiration for adventure.

They are part of my being, and they define who I am.

We are proud to call our Columbus Metro Parks

home to some of the largest common snapping turtles

on record in the United States.

But none of them have garnered a celebrity following

like that of Cornelius.

That's right, he even has his own sign.

I think I see a big turtle.

People of all ages

travel for miles to visit the viewing

shelter at Blendon Woods.

Binoculars in hand, they peer out

across the water in anticipation,

hoping to catch a glimpse of this ancient turtle

as his massive shadow silently drifts beneath the surface.

Ask anyone you know and I guarantee they

have a snapping turtle story.

It was as big as a truck tire.

It's jaws broke a broomstick in half.

It could have sunk my boat if it wanted to.

The tales are grand, taller than the trees,

and they deserve to be told.

I always have a good pair of binoculars with me

whenever I come out here looking for turtles.

Because this allows me to see these

turtles from quite a distance.

You can't catch a snapping turtle

if you can't sneak up on it.

So what I'm looking for is just a little head or the nose

sticking up out of the water.

I can spot it with the binoculars,

stay completely still, wait for that turtle to submerge back

down, and then I go after it.

Let's keep moving so we can get up close with the turtle.

The footage you're about to witness

is historic in the sense that it is the first time I was

ever filmed catching an animal.

But more importantly, it is the first time that I

ever encountered Cornelius.

It was a moment that I would never forget.

No other turtle in Thoreau Lake challenges his massive size,

bone crushing power, and timeless wisdom,

crowning him king in this muddy realm of dragons.

It often takes me days of waiting and searching

before I have an encounter.

And even then, he is nearly impossible to capture.

His incredible strength and speed

allow him to disappear in the murk

like a phantom in the darkness.

Now the water is crystal clear.

And this is absolutely perfect.

And the reason that we look for snapping turtles in the spring

is because the plant life hasn't yet grown in.

Once those plants grow in, the turtles are

incredibly difficult to find.

And right now, without any plants on the surface,

that's how we're going to catch these guys.

In my many years catching snapping turtles,

I've learned that the best way to land a dragon is by sneaking

up on them in a kayak.

Even that is a challenge.

And it's all about being in the right place

at exactly the right time, especially

if I'm hoping to have an encounter with Cornelius.

Once the plant life grows in, you can forget about it.

At that point, he's nothing more than a myth.

Whoa!

And this is, without question, the legendary turtle

named Cornelius still lives here in Thoreau Lake.

And he is an absolute dragon.

Look at the size of that turtle, he's enormous.

He's so big, he was sinking the boat.

He pulled me out of the side of the boat.

I lost the oar.

Nice.

And you cannot land a much bigger turtle than this.

Hey, buddy.

It makes me so happy to see that he is healthy

and that he has made it through the winter with no problems.

Look at the size of that snapping turtle.

That is a massive, massive snapping turtle.

OK, wow.

And that is the turtle that is my personal folklore legend.

I caught this turtle for the first time five years ago

and he nearly brought me down in the sink mud.

And here we are today showing him for you on "Dragon Tails."

This is one of the largest common snapping turtles

on record in the United States.

Look at the size of his head.

It's about the size of a softball.

If you get your hands stuck in the mouth of snapping

turtle like this, you're not going

to be getting your hand back.

Look at those claws Cornelius, can we see your claws?

His hand is as big as my hand.

And he's got claws about the size of an eagle.

And he is angry because he has just woken up for the year

to get ready to hunt and look to continue his reign

as the King of Thoreau Lake.

And you don't get much larger than that

for a comet snapping turtle.

Look at that.

Oh, yeah.

Man-- and then I can always tell that this is Cornelius based

on these large ridges that he has on the top of his eyes

and his very distinct orange beak

that you see up front here.

Look at the length of the neck there.

Now, snapping turtle can reach about that far.

So I know I'm at a safe distance.

And I'm just trying to get him to want my hand in his mouth

so you guys can see this prehistoric looking neck.

Yes, no biting, no biting, Cornelius, no biting.

Nothing makes me more happy every spring than to come out

here and catch Cornelius to see that this incredibly

prehistoric giant creature is living and thriving

here in Thoreau Lake.

It's really important that we get

his measurements now to see where he lands

on this season's top dragons.

All right, hold on a second, I'm going to put them down.

Watch your camera, back it up there just a little bit.

He will go after you.

And now Cornelius may be over 50 pounds,

so we're going to use the 100 pound scale at this point.

All right, Cornelius, now the part

that you really don't like.

We're going to get into the bag.

I know, I know.

He's done this several times.

Now, I know he's not at his top weight

right now because it is literally

the beginning of spring.

And as summer goes on and they eat more fish and more frogs,

more snakes, more ducklings, more goslings,

he will get bigger and bigger in weight.

Right now, I'm guessing he's probably just under 50 pounds.

So we're going to play a little game

that's called dragon in a bag.

In you go there, buddy.

I know, I know.

Walk it in, walk it in, there we go.

All right, here we go.

I'm lifting up, all the way off the ground?

Yeah.

Wow, there you have it.

Cornelius is clocking in at 48 pounds right now.

48 is not bad, though, considering he's

just woken up from hibernation.

I doubt he's had much more than a couple

of fish meals at this point.

But he is an unbelievably healthy common snapping

turtle and a true mud dragon.

One of my best friends.

I love you, buddy.

I'm so glad that you are safe and sound

after that long grueling winter.

Cornelius is the most amazing animal I have ever encountered.

He's everything that fascinates me about nature.

He defines who I am.

He was my first white whale.

I love the fact that I got to share it with you.

And I hope you enjoyed his company,

even if he was a little grumpy.

The world of snapping turtles is shrouded in mystery.

Folklore surrounding the common snapping turtle

has captivated minds for centuries.

But to encounter the largest turtle legends in North

America, we had to travel South, deep into the backwaters

of Louisiana.

These slow moving creeks and vast waterways

are home to the one and only alligator snapping turtle.

I was confident that by trudging through the murky

waters of the bottoms that I would eventually

run into a giant turtle.

But as the sun drifted across the sky,

several hours had passed and I was

hitting nothing but dead ends.

I understand now why Adam uses traps

in these rivers-- safe traps, the hoop traps.

The water's dark and murky.

And it has you on edge every single second.

Like, I feel exhausted just from trudging,

you know, around a few bends.

It's just-- it's not like catching

common snapping turtles, I'll tell you that much.

I refuse to give up.

Hold on, hold on, I got something right here.

I'm the guy who always catches the turtles, right?

Log.

I don't know how I'm going to be able to catch

one of these turtles in a situation like this.

I really don't.

It was time for location change.

And just as we were getting ready to pack up,

our luck looked as if it was about to change.

This guy's pretty quick, right? - Yeah.

That's a rat snake.

It's pretty good sized. yeah, that's a black rattlesnake.

So something you may mistake for a water

moccasin, which it is not.

And he's just staying completely still right now, obviously

not really well-camouflaged.

My eye just caught a dark shape and I was like, OK,

there is a snake.

Non-venomous, so this should be a very safe capture.

They very rarely bite.

It looks really skinny, actually.

They are, sometimes, pretty quick.

Nice.

Oh, he's kind of rearing up, saying, what are you doing?

Are you going to bite? Not going to bite?

Not going to bite? OK.

Be gentle.

Oh, shunk!

Ow!

Yeah, he bit me.

Jeez, he did a number on my hand.

Now, these snakes actually will constrict their meal.

So let's say I'm a little rat running

around out here in the swamps.

I come across the snake, I take a bite,

this snake is going to wrap itself around

really quick, constrict, cut off the circulation

and the air flow.

And then he's got his meal.

Pretty cool find to just come across a big black rattle

snake like this.

This is tough.

I got to admit it, guys.

I'm good at catching common snapping turtles.

So far, not so much with the alligator snapping turtle.

The water's deep.

The water is dark.

And these turtles stay on the bottom.

I can't get to the bottom.

I mean, every body of water we've been in

has pushed the limits of the waders.

That is an enormous bubble trail.

We definitely just scared something.

We are not alone.

It's becoming frustrating.

We've been here for a couple of days now.

And so far, I have absolutely nothing to show for it.

With light getting low, we decided to change the strategy.

According to Adam, alligator snapping turtles become

much more active at night.

And he was going to take us to the place

where he's encountered some enormous turtles.

I've been out looking for common snapping turtles

at night in ponds.

But heading up a stream looking for a giant alligator snapping

turtle is definitely new for me.

I've been fishing this creek since I was eight.

Now, how many turtles have you caught in this body of water

in that amount of time?

I know I've caught 10 over 100 pounds out of this creek

right here.

Wow, 10 turtles over 100 pounds?

And I've probably call 50 or 60 between 80, 90.

A bunch of big turtles in this creek.

Just follow me, I know this creek like the back of my hand.

OK.

We're in your hands, man.

Let's do this.

Let's find some dragons.

As we began to explore upstream, my mind

raced with anticipation.

The thought of capturing a 100-pound turtle

in the dark of night was all I could imagine.

The stream was alive with creatures, some of which

we could have done without.

There are spiders all over the place out here.

That may be the largest fishing spider I have seen in my life.

This, ladies and gentlemen, is what we would consider

a biological landmine, not something

you just want to run into out here in the backwoods creeks.

Whoa, jeez, he's heavy.

Did that make you jump?

It made a splash.

It looks like a head is about to rise up out of there.

I think we would have moved at this point.

Look at how deceiving that shape is.

You've got-- this looks just like a nose, looks

like the big back of the head.

I mean, from a distance across there

with the flashlight on it, I thought

what I saw was an alligator snapping turtles head coming

up from underneath this log.

That's that moment where your heart goes--

it skips a beat and you're like, holy cow, this is it.

This is where we're going to get our dragon.

But of course, it's just an algae covered log.

The clock was ticking and our time left in Louisiana

was disappearing like silt in the current.

Maybe Adam was right, my capture techniques

might not work with a creature that spent its life

on the bottom of a river.

I'm beginning to think that your method with the hoop traps

might be the way to go.

But I'm determined to prove that I

can catch one of these turtles.

When you set a hoop trap, it sits and disperses

the scent of bait for hours, slowly luring in the turtles.

Basically, the trap does all the work.

You could spend hours, literally days,

walking the creeks and rivers.

I got one.

Adam, does this count?

That's another strikeout.

Only to come across nothing but shadows

in the ripples of water.

It's pretty murky in here. Mark!

Mark! Yeah?

I got a turtle!

It's definitely a turtle and it's not small.

Where are you?

I'm underneath these logs!

Big turtle, hold on, hold on.

He's underneath this log.

Oh my God, just hold these right here.

Hold on, hold on.

Do you have him?

Do you have the right in?

Yeah, there's the tail.

There's the tail.

Do you see them?

Yeah.

Oh, that is a good sized turtle, yes, Here,

come back up this way, come around, come around.

He is unbelievably strong.

There's his head.

There's his head.

Look at that.

That is it.

That is the alligator snapping turtle.

Something went way over my waders.

Wow.

Let's bring him up on this log.

Got to keep him propped straight at you on the log.

OK, I'm going to try to hold him there.

He is so unbelievably strong.

Wow, look at the size of that turtle.

This is so much bigger than the common snapping turtles

that I catch in Ohio.

Wow.

I'm guessing-- I'm guessing he's got to beat about

50 pounds would be my guess.

What do you think?

Look about 50 pounds to you?

Around 50, 45, 50 ponds.

45, 50?

You know, the entire night, I've been

sticking my hands up on things.

I got a little ways ahead of you guys I actually

saw a frog back there that I was going after

and realized the water was getting deep.

And I just kind of felt something move in the logs,

put my hand down, and felt the-- hold on, hold on, hold on,

I got him.

I got him.

I got him.

there, Mark.

He's probably going to pull me swimming with him in the water.

OK, back up here, buddy.

Look at that carapace.

Look at how perfectly designed and camouflaged this animal is.

Holding him up next to this log like this,

I mean, he just looks like he is a floating piece of wood

if you were to bump into this.

And I'm guessing he's out here right now hunting.

You come on the side log.

Hunting for exactly what I was going after,

which was a big bullfrog, missed the Bullfrog

but bumped into exactly what it is

that we were after, a true mud dragon of the Louisiana

backwaters.

Look at that turtle.

Wow, holy cow, I can't believe it.

I cannot believe we got one.

We need to get him up on shore.

I got to get his weight some measurements.

OK. Here, let's see.

Let's go over here.

Oh, man, there is so much water in my waders right now.

All right, let me put him down here.

Hey, buddy.

Look at that.

Oh, he's tired.

I'm tired.

OK, there you go.

What a nice turtle.

All right, the first thing I'm going to do

is I'm going to get the weight of the turtle.

Here we go, ready?

One, two, three.

He is at 46 pounds.

All right, I'm going to get him back out of the bag.

There we are.

Here's one really interesting feature.

Look at his eye on this side.

It's very clouded.

Put your head up.

It's almost like this turtle has a cataract.

And I wonder if that's actually part of what

helped me catch this turtle--

the fact that maybe he didn't see me coming.

One thing is for certain, though, I happen

to be in the right place at the right time

to get my hands on this turtle.

To encounter and capture one of these ancient reptiles

in their natural range was a dream come true.

At 46 pounds, this turtle was far from breaking

any world records.

But to me, it made no difference.

This was an experience I would never forget.

All right, this is it.

The moment that we let the dragon

back out into the Louisiana backwaters.

All right, buddy, thanks for hanging out with us.

Here we go, ready?

The alligator snapping turtle defines

a beauty that has nearly vanished from our planet.

And as I watched its shadow disappear into the darkness,

I could feel nothing but gratitude for the moment

that I spent in its presence.