Florida Snaps Up Turtles : Wildlife: A Dade County official volunteers air fare for the pair found at Castaic Lake to the Miami Museum of Science, ‘where they belong.’

Two snapping turtles rescued from the jaws of death by news reports of their pending execution have won a permanent reprieve and a new life in Florida.

A Dade County, Fla., wildlife officer visiting Los Angeles said Wednesday he has agreed to buy the turtles a ride on a New Year’s Day flight to Miami. Once there, the turtles--whose odyssey began when they were apparently used in a mysterious religious ritual at Castaic Lake--will go to the Miami Museum of Science.

“I’m taking the turtles to Florida, where they belong,� said Tom Ratner, a pilot for Medivac International and a part-time officer for the Florida Game and Freshwater Fish Commission.

Ratner is an answer to the prayers of California Department of Fish and Game officials, who were in a quandary over what to do with the turtles, found Sunday on a boat launch ramp at Castaic Lake, surrounded by burning incense.

Possession of the snapping turtles, which are native to Southern states and South America, is prohibited in California because they pose a threat to native fish if allowed to reproduce in local waterways, state officials said.

The turtles, nicknamed Nin and Ja after the popular “teen-age mutant� cartoon turtles, were to be destroyed Tuesday.

But after getting calls from news reporters, state game officials changed their minds, fearing they would be seen as cruel Scrooges during the holiday season.

State officials then scrambled to find a zoo, university or other institution willing to take the pair of 10-pound turtles.

But after a day of telephone calls, Game Warden John Castro said he was unable to find them a suitable home.

Then the turtles, already on a roll, got another break.

“I saw the news about the turtles and I thought, ‘Maybe I can be of some value here,’ � said Ratner, who is also a retired police officer. “I contacted Fish and Game and we’ve spent the afternoon making the arrangements.�

The California game officials, also thinking themselves lucky, added two more passengers to the turtle airlift, getting Ratner to agree to carry back two additional snapping turtles from an Orange County college lab that also needed a new home.

“They said they had two more and I said, ‘Why not?’ � Ratner said.

Ratner is hoping American Airlines will allow him to carry the turtles free, as pets. But if not, he said he is willing to pay the expense himself.