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Snail Kite (female) captured by Z 9 \/ Z180-600 w\/1.4x<\/p>\n
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I had read in the papers that they occasionally, rarely, will eat a turtle. But in my month with Snail Kites, I’d never seen it for myself. Snail Kites got their name because they are highly specialized to eat one thing, apple snails. Look at those long and curved talons and that bill, they are meant for plucking the snail right out of its shell. When this female popped out of the water with this turtle, I couldn’t tell it was a turtle. It wasn’t until we got closer and it had already eaten some of it that I could see the shell and that one, lone leg. It seemed to have no issue plucking the turtle out of its shell, it dispatched it pretty darn fast. The most interesting thing is, we saw a little time later a male Snail Kite with its own baby turtle. They didn’t seem to have a chance with this superior, specialized hunter, they need more than a leg up.<\/p>\n
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Snail Kite (female) captured by Z 9 \/ Z180-600 w\/1.4xI had read in the papers that they occasionally, rarely, will eat a turtle. But in my month with Snail Kites, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72905,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"1219","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","sync_status":"none","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","castos_file_data":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Need More Than a Leg Up https:\/\/wp.me\/p6YJx-iXS Snail Kites got their name because, they specialize in snails. But they won't pass up that baby turtle when they see it! @BedfordCamera @NikonUSA #NikonAmbassador #NikonPro","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"series":[],"class_list":["post-72904","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wildlife-photography"],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/Snail-Kite-48306.jpg","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Podcast.jpg?fit=1500%2C1500&quality=100&ssl=1","download_link":"","player_link":"","audio_player":false,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"dark","subscribeUrls":{"amazon":{"key":"amazon","url":"https:\/\/www.audible.com\/pd\/Podcast\/B08JJQC1GR?ref=a_pd_item-n_c0_bc&pf_rd_p=1da7ab30-c785-4a0e-a160-4a7e7077b353&pf_rd_r=EEDMYHQM3DZ05FPRTHMJ","label":"Amazon","class":"amazon","icon":"amazon.png"},"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"rss":{"key":"rss","url":"","label":"RSS","class":"rss","icon":"rss.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/2fRA9VaVfSdQMKf1ipxr0tipxr0t","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"itunes":{"key":"itunes","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/moose-podcast\/id1107405746","label":"iTunes","class":"itunes","icon":"itunes.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/www.moosepeterson.com\/blog\/feed\/podcast\/moose-podcast","embedCode":"
Need More Than a Leg Up<\/a><\/blockquote>