Recently, this post was about a genus that shows up regularly at this time of year: those media gap fillers known as summer animals. To prove that the search for the season’s animal star has begun, an explosives-sniffing dog, now allowed to call itself a goggle-sniffing dog, was performed; also a cow that hid from the police in a pantry, and a kangaroo fleeing on or around the Chiemsee, no one knows for sure. What is known, however, to the dismay of the named animals: the search is over as soon as it begins. Bavaria has a snapping turtle again.
In fact: “turtle alarm in the outdoor pool,” alarmed the picture already – in the tradition of other reptiles with strong jaws. “Lotti” bit in 2013 in the Allgäu pierced a boy’s Achilles tendon. The following year a turtle was sighted near Erlangen. And in 2015, an angler hooked one in the district of Ansbach. And 2022? According to reports, the reptile hangs around in the natural pool in Aschau. Even the volunteer fire brigade went out because of him, but initially had to leave empty-handed and wet pants: the snapping turtle dived away from all the buckets and landing nets. A real summer star is not that easy to catch.
In any case, the importance of the snapping turtle can hardly be overestimated, as it is perhaps the most Bavarian of all animals. No one lets nuisances slip down the tank so elegantly, acts so stubbornly unruly, but quite peacefully, as long as personal freedom is preserved. She also seems to enjoy a certain popularity as a role model. The state government, for example, knows that people like to move leisurely on land, but bite reflexively. It almost doesn’t matter what the federal government decides (or doesn’t decide) these days, there is usually criticism from the Free State – although in this country people have already made themselves very comfortable in energy policy or the railway expansion. Some even sense that Bavaria is at a disadvantage just because they are not allowed to play in Berlin. From this point of view, it would be high time to replace the lions in the CSU logo and the Free State coat of arms – with snapping turtles.