# The Great Turtle Escape
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [July 20, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879 "2012-07-20T19:58:42Z")
**Posts on this page:** 15
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879/1 "2012-07-20T19:58:42Z")
[Turtles flee farm in Chattooga County](http://news.google.com/news/url?ct2=us%2F1_0_s_11_101_a&sa=t&usg=AFQjCNFagG9_dg9UaUAREudisl9swP2SRg&cid=26389721601772&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftimesfreepress.com%2Fnews%2F2012%2Fjul%2F19%2Fturtles-flee-farm-in-chattooga-county%2F&ei=r7UJUPjLLYyTtwet-gE&dcid=CATEGORY_CITED&rt=SECTION&vm=STANDARD&bvm=section&did=-5177459750573904836&sid=top-stories)
Thousands of them. :eek::eek:
No video is available, must’ve stacked up and had the eastern painted paint out the security cameras.🙂
According to the article, in China turtles are raised for food like chickens.
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### Author:  [@chappachula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chappachula)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2012, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879/2 "2012-07-20T20:11:24Z")
> [@smithsb](#):
>
> in China turtles are raised for food like chickens.
This reminds me of my favorite fact learned from watching QI :
When Darwin returned from his famous voyage to the Galapagos , he took many newly-discovered species of animals back with him. But the only ones which were didn’t make it all the way back to England were the giant turtles.
Because …
… the crew of the ship ate them.
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### Author:  [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2012, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879/3 "2012-07-20T20:29:37Z")
All I could think was that the man doesn’t make a lot of effort to check his stock on any kind of a regular basis.
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### Author:  [@AndrewL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AndrewL)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2012, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879/4 "2012-07-20T20:36:40Z")
And now I want to see Aardman Animation make a claymation movie about this.
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### Author:  [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)
#### Post date: [July 20, 2012, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879/5 "2012-07-20T22:08:39Z")
> [@smithsb](#):
>
> According to the article, in China turtles are raised for food like chickens.
They also import them in nontrivial quantities from US farmers, and not just from Mr. Driver. An old friend back in Louisiana has a turtle farm, and most of his business is with Chinese distributors. (As far as I know, he doesn’t sell to pet operations at all.)
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### Author:  [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2012, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879/6 "2012-07-21T03:36:53Z")
My wife and I went to SFO years ago, and while in Chinatown, I was taking pictures of the stores and sights. We came to a market selling octopus, fish, and all types of sea creatures. They also had a bowl of [turtles.](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v677/ural/Picture1296.jpg) Cute baby turtles, just like I had growing up, with the little [pond](http://www.reptilechannel.com/images/article-images/baby-turtle/Turtle12.jpg)and the palm tree.
My wife pointed out that there were no \*\*\*other \*\*\*pets displayed here…:eek:
Nooooo! Somebody save the wee turtles!
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### Author:  [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2012, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879/7 "2012-07-21T05:21:15Z")
Drizzle, Drazzle, Druzzle, Drome
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2012, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879/8 "2012-07-21T15:05:49Z")
I wonder if any of them will become ‘invasive species’.
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### Author:  [@Spud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spud)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2012, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879/9 "2012-07-21T15:39:56Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> I wonder if any of them will become ‘invasive species’.
Yes, but it will take years… and years… and years
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### Author:  [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879/10 "2012-07-21T19:33:18Z")
This reminded me of that line from _The Simpsons_: “They’re getting away! Very…slowly.”
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### Author:  [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)
#### Post date: [July 21, 2012, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879/11 "2012-07-21T21:17:22Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> I wonder if any of them will become ‘invasive species’.
Not unless they already were, since his stock was from locally caught turtles.
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### Author:  [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879/12 "2012-07-23T16:10:50Z")
> [@ducati](#):
>
> My wife and I went to SFO years ago, and while in Chinatown, I was taking pictures of the stores and sights. We came to a market selling octopus, fish, and all types of sea creatures. They also had a bowl of [turtles.](http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v677/ural/Picture1296.jpg) Cute baby turtles, just like I had growing up, with the little [pond](http://www.reptilechannel.com/images/article-images/baby-turtle/Turtle12.jpg)and the palm tree.
>
> My wife pointed out that there were no \*\*\*other \*\*\*pets displayed here…:eek:
> Nooooo! Somebody save the wee turtles!
I’m afraid to ask: how does one cook and eat something that small? The shell-to-meat ratio seems … suboptimal, at best.
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### Author:  [@Encinitas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Encinitas)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2012, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879/13 "2012-07-23T19:04:50Z")
mmmm…yellow-bellied sliders.:eek:
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### Author:  [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2012, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879/14 "2012-07-23T19:13:46Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#):
>
> I’m afraid to ask: how does one cook and eat something that small? The shell-to-meat ratio seems … suboptimal, at best.
In the states, at least, turtle soup is one of the most common ways to eat 'em. But with turtles that small, I wonder if they’re not intended to take home, feed scraps, and eat them next year.
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### Author:  [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2012, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-great-turtle-escape/628879/15 "2012-07-23T20:24:31Z")
Feel free to look up “soft shell turtle recipes”.