Snapper Turtle

Check it out! Here's a turtle that I caught recently. I found it crawling on the road about a mile from home. I was on the bike at the time, so I called for Gene to come with his truck because I knew he was nearby at the moment. I wonder how old it was, because it's pretty big. It's head was almost as big as my fist, and its shell is about 13 inches long. I don't know how long it was with it's head and tail stretched out, but it had to be at least 2 feet or more. It had spikes on its tail, like a dinosaur. I tried to butcher it so we could have snapper soup, but I only succeeded in making a big mess, and I finally gave up. For future reference, does anyone know how to properly clean a turtle? If I come across any of these again, I'd really like to do it right and have a taste of snapper soup.

Different lighting on the camera so you can read the numbers on the measuring stick: