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THE GAZETTE (Galax, Virginia) Sewer exploration turns up turtle (Brian Funk)
A routine exploration of the sewer lines beneath Galax's streets last week uncovered a curious subterranean reptile whose origins have city workers baffled.
Actually, it was just a snapping turtle - but it was a big one, and not in a place where turtles often reside.
Creatures living in sewers and water lines aren't that unusual. Fish, snakes and other amphibians often make it their habitat.
New York is infamous for its urban legends about alligators living under the streets, but none has ever been found.
(Take that, Big Apple.)
On the scene when city workers discovered the turtle was Justin Barnard, coordinator of the city's Capacity, Management, Operations & Maintenance program - a fancy way of saying he's in charge of water and sewer regulations and monitoring.
Barnard said that early on the morning of July 19, a city crew was using a remote video camera to inspect the sanitary sewer line that runs along Mill Creek, near Glendale Road.
The camera looks for cracks and other repair needs in the lines.
“We were coming to an end of a pipe segment and noticed an odd object in the bottom of the upcoming manhole,” Barnard said.
At first, they thought it was a big rock.
“As we came closer to the manhole and focused the lens of the camera it became evident that the object was a turtle.”
The city workers were flushed with excitement when they pulled from the depths a scaly beast about two feet long.
City worker David Flippin was quick to identify the creature as a snapping turtle, with its distinctive claws, curved beak and shell with sawtooth edges at the rear.
They're the largest freshwater turtles in North America and are known to be aggressive if cornered. They can deliver a vicious lunging bite with their powerful necks and snapping jaws.
That's why Flippin held the creature by its tail - and at arm's length.
“Judging from the expression on the turtle's face, we really don't know if he was happy at being plucked out of the constant stream of sewer,” Barnard said.
Snapping turtles are rarely seen on land, except to lay eggs.
“We figure, considering a turtle's diet and usual habitat, the sewer might be an ideal spot,” Barnard said.
Living in the sewer and blocking the flow in the lines was not in Galax's best interest, however.
Workers released the turtle back into nearby Mill Creek.
E-mailed photos of the creature circulated among city staff as they speculated about its origins and discussed the uncanny parallels to the popular 1980s cartoon and comic book series, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
(Basically, the story line was that those Ninja Turtles were flushed down the drain, fell into some nuclear waste and grew into human-sized crime-fighters.)
The Galax turtle seemed pretty average, lacking any discernable ninja skills or measurable radioactivity.
Given the size, it's too old to be a teen - even in turtle years.
Barnard said the big guy didn't end up in the sewer from getting flushed down a toilet, like the aforementioned Ninja Turtles or those alleged alligators.
(And don't worry about opening the toilet lid and being greeted by one of his friends. They're way too big to squeeze up through the pipes.)
“The only thing we can figure is either he got in when he was much smaller and has lived in the sewer for who knows how long, or he's found some hole somewhere that we don't know about,” Barnard said.
Barnard said finding such holes is the main reason behind the sewer inspections. Some old water lines, dating back to the 1950s, have cracked recently and a few have collapsed.
“The video camera allows us to look at the inside of our pipes for holes, cracks or any other deficiencies,” Barnard says.
The inspections could lead to the discovery of more sewer-dwelling critters - or maybe they'll find out those New York gators migrated south.

http://www.galaxgazette.com/articles/2006/07/28/news/news05.txt