I photographed this in the lake at the local park. There were some terrapins nearby that I think have been released by owners who no longer want them and as I was phtographing those, this caught the corner of my eye. Any ideas?
Ketchup said:Can you eat them?
Hello Neil, and thank you for your message.
It's a great photo and it certainly does look like a soft-shelled turtle. There has been a terrapin problem in Roath Park Lake for many years, and I believe that in the 90's there were efforts to remove them, but evidently some are still there. The main ecological interest is the population of overwintering and breeding wildfowl and it may well be the case that terrapins do take some of the young of these birds. However the damage that the terrapins cause in this respect is very difficult to measure, so for the moment we are monitoring the situation. Humane removal of the terrapins is very difficult, beyond draining the lake, and there is also the problem of what to do with the terrapins when caught.
There are also animal welfare issues relating to abandonment of the terrapins and to the injuries they cause to wildfowl, but these would be dealt with by the RSPCA.
We're sorry that we are unable to give a more definitive answer on this, but we'd be happy to keep you informed if there are any changes in our policy.
Yours etc....