SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (KELO) — A snapping turtle that possibly wandered nearly a mile in Aberdeen from what is a common habitat for turtles was likely looking for a place to lay eggs.

“The main reason that we are seeing (more) turtles this time of year is that females are looking for a place to lay eggs,” said Terry Phillip, the general curator at Reptile Gardens in Rapid City.

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It’s also possible the turtle already laid eggs and got turned around while heading home, said Leigh Spencer, the director of education and conservation at the Great Plains Zoo and Butterfly House and Aquarium in Sioux Falls.

Aberdeen Mayor Travis Schaunaman snapped a photo on Friday of a large snapping turtle in the parking lot of a local grocery store. He posted the photo on his mayor Facebook page.

Schaunaman said animal control officer John Weaver estimated the turtle “weighed a little more than 40 pounds.” The estimated width was 24 inches.

“Forty pounds is awful big for a turtle,” Phillip said. “If you think of it, a big bag of dog food is 40 pounds.”

Chris Dekker of the South Dakota Game Fish and Parks is one of the few people who has studied snapping turtles. Because the turtles are not listed as at risk or endangered, they don’t generate a lot of research. Dekker studied snapping turtles for two years in North Dakota as a project for his master’s degree.

“The biggest one I found when I did my research, I think was 47 pounds,” Dekker said. “They can get very big.”

The Amphibians and Reptiles of South Dakota website lists 44 pounds as the heaviest in human care in the state, Spencer said.

The length of a large one is around 15 inches, Phillip said. He considers the length of a snapping turtles as the length of the shell.

The Aberdeen turtle could be an older one, based on its size, Phillip said. Snapping turtles have a long lifespan and it’s similar to human years, Phillip said.

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The turtle’s shell is used to determine its age. Dekker said the shell must be scrubbed clean and then, the number of rings in a certain area are counted. “It’s like the rings in a tree,” Dekker said of determining age.

“We had some turtle shells that had become smooth,” Dekker said of his two years of research. Because the shells were smooth and had started indenting, or sagging, “we knew they were really old.”

It’s not unusual for a lifespan of 30 to 40 years but Phillip said he’s also heard of those 70 or 80 years old.

“They are long-lived,” Dekker said.

“It’s similar to a person. Sixty-five to 70 years, up to 100,” Phillip said of a lifespan.

Many of the comments that were generated with Schaunaman’s photo on his mayor’s facebook page indicate that snapping turtles are part of the life in Aberdeen. Posters said they see snapping turtles in certain neighborhoods or even in their backyards. Moccasin Creek also appears to be a popular area for snapping turtles.

“It’s always been a thing,” said Cara Perrione, the assistant library director and community service librarian at the K.O. Lee Aberdeen Public Library. Moccasin Creek tends to be an attractive site.

And Aberdeen’s overall terrain is likely attractive to turtles.

“We’re known as being the town on a frog pond,” Perrione said. Local historian Don Artz wrote a history of the city that was published in 1991. The title was “The Town on a Frog Pond,” which referred to the swampy, wet terrain in and around Aberdeen.

Schaunaman said the 3rd Avenue bridge over Moccasin Creek is a popular spot for snapping turtles. That is about a mile from the grocery story where the large turtle was recently found.

If that area was the home area, “The (turtle) traveled some distance from the creek,” Schaunaman said.

The creek would make a good home for snapping turtles but turtles are adaptable, Spence said.

“They can live in any decent-sized body of water…,” Spencer said. The area needs to hold enough water for food, she said.

Snapping turtles are attracted to dark, murky, slow moving water, Phillip said.

Cattle ponds can be turtle habitat. Even ponding water in a farm field.

Turtles will eat fish, frogs even ducks or other game birds. “They are very opportunistic,” Spencer said.

And they’ve remained the same for about 200 million years, Phillip said.

Snapping turtles don’t lay their eggs in water so they search for suitable soil or areas in which to lay them.

Turtles will lay their eggs on gravel roads or even in a sawdust pile, Dekker said. And they will travel for the nesting spot. Some may travel a mile or more to find that spot.

Snapping turtles may not lay eggs each year. Dekker said some turtles in the northeastern part of the state may lay eggs every third year.

Male snapping turtles are not ready to breed until they are 10 to 12 years old, Dekker said. Female are able to breed at 12 to 14 years old, he said.

When snapping turtles are spotted in an area in June or July it is most likely a female looking for nesting spot. That’s why its important to leave them alone unless they are on a road or parking lot or similar where they could be in danger.

If a snapping turtle is in the road, a person can move it but it must be moved to the side of the road in the direction it was headed. They can also be moved to the end of a parking lot in a direction it was headed. The turtle should not be moved farther away to what is believed to be a suitable nesting spot. If they are moved from the site or direction they were headed they can get disoriented and the trip to and from the nesting site increases, Dekker said.

Caution should be used because the powerful jaw that is used to capture prey or defend itself can harm a person.

“It can take a finger off…,” Phillip said.

Schaunaman said animal control in Aberdeen used special gear including special gloves to move the turtle.

“It’s important to pick them up by the bottom third of the shell,” Dekker said.

Or individuals can contact the GFP for advice, he said.

The nesting season should end when July is over. The public won’t see much public turtle activity until September when the eggs hatch, Spencer said.

Schaunaman said as of Monday morning, his turtle Facebook post had reached a quarter million viewers.