Tuesday, May 28, 2013

1500! Alternate Title: Snappy Turtles

(Froggy, the title is a hint of what is to come!)
 
This is my 1500th post.  Wheeee!

Otter and I were heading off somewhere yesterday.  We have a route that we like to take when we have time.  It takes us by a miniature horse farm.  PONIES!! 
  
 
It also goes past a cow pasture that has a stock pond close enough to be seen from the road.  There are usually what we refer to as "floaters" in the pond - cattle of assorted age & size, and lots of them are calves.  Calves are generally a little too small to walk, they are obviously floating and they look like they are having a good time.

Anyway.  Yesterday, we were heading down our favorite 2-lane road and noticed an oncoming car suddenly stop.  Then the driver got out and he waved to make sure we saw him.  We slowed down in case he needed help (I would have called Bill but would not have gotten out of the car myself nor would I have given him a ride anywhere, safety first after all.)  But then we realized that he was actually getting something out of the middle of the road, in front of his car.

It was one of these:


A snapping turtle!
 
It wasn't huge, by my standards anyway.  But my standards might be different than most - it was at least as wide as a dinner plate.  A large plate.  He looked like he knew how to handle one, he was carefully and slowly grabbing it and grabbing it back far enough to hopefully not get nailed.  Turtle neck length varies, so it's always a good idea to grab as far back as you can.  Just in case.  He carried it over to the side of the road and gently tossed it far enough away from the street again, hopefully it was smart enough to keep on going the same direction which would have kept it away from the street again.
 
All turtles can and will bite, snapping turtles are among the worst by the way - they are grouchy from the moment they hatch!  They can be very nasty to deal with.
 
This is a Snappy Turtle:

It's a little nicer than the other kind!

And Froggy would probably like it better.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

looking at the picture made me remember a dream I had last night. All I remember is there was a huge turtle and it was turned on its back. I had to find someone to turn it over. I don't remember anything else. That is probably why I woke up feeling yucky.
Yes I like the other kind better. I may have to have a malt after seeing this. Froggy