PORTLAND, Maine — In a video first posted on the social media website Reddit, a man appears to be seen picking up wild snapping turtles at a cemetery in Portland and repeatedly smashing them into each other.
Mark Latti, the communications director for the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, said the department is investigating the incident and talking to people about what happened.
The video was posted by someone under a pseudonym. They say during a weekend walk with their dog along the ponds near Evergreen Cemetery, they heard what sounded like two rocks hitting each other.
"We kept walking, and I could hear the sound of two rocks hitting again," the post said. "I look across the pond and see the man losing his footing and rolling down the hill into the pond, completely drenched in the pond water."
The post went on to say the man then grabbed a snapping turtle from the water and threw it onto rocks.
"The man squats again, pulls out another turtle, and smashes it onto the granite slab," the person wrote. "Its body was dazed and confused, tumbling on land."
The person said they then pulled out their phone to shoot video. The video shows the man throwing each turtle one more time. He then grabbed one and headed to his vehicle.
Latti told NEWS CENTER Maine turtle abuse is uncommon in Maine.
"We got a complaint about someone swerving to run over a turtle that was crossing the road, but we don't get a lot of them," Latti said.
In Maine, you're allowed to remove two turtles from the wild for consumption or for keeping, Latti added. However, it is against the law to intentionally harm animals.
The city of Portland denied NEWS CENTER Maine's request for comment citing the active investigation.