A snapping turtle has struck fear into an area of southern Germany after severing a boy’s Achilles tendon while swimming. The area is in lock-down and the lake has been drained, but there is no sign of the reptile.

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Dubbed Lotti by locals, the creature bit an eight-year-old boy in the Achilles tendon, ripping it in two places, while he was swimming in the Allgäu region of southern Bavaria last Monday.

Firefighters have been searching for Lotti since the attack but confirmed on Monday that their efforts had proved fruitless – even after draining the lake on Sunday evening. They said that the turtle has likely hidden itself in the muddy floor of the Oggenreider lake.

Mayor of the Irsee region Andreas Lieb said that setting traps was an option and that the search team was keeping a close eye on the water. The mayor is even offering a €1,000 reward for anyone who captures Lotti.

A group of girls from the area have taken the attack tongue in cheek, putting up laminated posters on trees by the lake with a photograph of a snapping turtle. The posters read: “Beware, Lotti lives here.” “Beware, snappy.”

Medics initially thought the boy had stepped on glass, Lieb said on Sunday. But as the boy kept bleeding, and complaining of serious pain it became clear that something more serious had happened, the Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung reported on Monday.

Experts told Lieb that there were no fish in the lake that could have caused such an injury, so Lieb sent photos to the Munich Zoological institute – which then confirmed that the bites were from a turtle.

The lake was then shut down, but before it was drained anglers removed 500 fish.
The boy and his family had been visiting the area on holiday from Bonn, North Rhine-Westphalia.

DPA/The Local/jcw