Spooge's Spit Up - What a Catch!!

An angler fishing for carp in the West Midlands was shocked to find an aggressive snapping turtle on the end of his rod.

The Alligator Snapping Turtle, usually found in the Mississippi, was caught by Drew Hammond at Earlswood Lakes in Birmingham

Mr Hammonds, 37, from Walsall, thought he had landed a large fish at first, reports the Daily Telegraph.

As the turtle's spiky shell emerged from the water, Mr Hammonds said he initially feared the animal was a crocodile and prepared to flee.

Mr Hammonds, a satellite engineer, said: "I had put that much bait on the end, I had to catch something. Then I spotted a big shell coming out of the water, with spikes on its back.

"My first instinct was to run, as I thought it was a crocodile or an alligator. I dropped my rod and ran, then I turned back and realised it was a turtle.

"I don't think I was too far wrong because they are related."

He and his friends struggled to unhook the turtle because it was so aggressive.

Conservation groups blame pet owners abandoning animals for the increasing numbers of foreign turtles and terrapins being found in British waterways.