Southampton Town Police Officer Saves Snapping Turtle

Southampton Town Police Officer Donald Metcalf was praised by the Suffolk County SPCA for saving a snapping turtle crossing Montauk Highway near Munn’s Pond County Park in Hampton Bays yesterday at about 4 p.m.

According to Roy Gross, Chief of the Suffolk County SPCA, when Metcalf noticed the turtle in the street, he positioned his patrol car so the turtle would not get run over.

Metcalf then walked up to and picked up the snapping turtle, which is very dangerous and poses a fierce biting threat to humans, with his bare hands.

The turtle was taken into the county preserve and put back into its natural environment.