A turtle!

[dougo]

This is what greeted me this morning as I went out to get the mail:









I'm guessing it crawled out of nearby Nutting Lake, which means it's a turtle instead of a tortoise, but feel free to try to identify the species (and age). (large photo)

Also, in the last picture above, you can see the invasive bamboo plants that have taken over my garden (and much of my back yard). The tallest stalks grew to 6 feet in about 3 weeks. I should probably pull more of it out—I think there are supposed to be some flowering plants underneath! But it's kind of cool to have a big green CO₂ sink.

Comments

[aroraborealis.livejournal.com]

Hellooooooooo, Turtle!!

[perci.livejournal.com]

Whatever kind of turtle that is, he hasn't had his morning shower.

[in-parentheses.livejournal.com]

NEAT!

[jtemperance.livejournal.com]

Awesome! It looks like it just dropped by to say hi, or maybe it wants something from you.

Maybe it's one of these?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Snapping_Turtle

Mail delivery

[mshonle.livejournal.com]

The snail must have had his day off.

[rosminah.livejournal.com]

Maybe he's just emerged from hibernation underground?

[nosrednayduj]

It's a snapping turtle. It's their time of year to lay eggs. They come out of the lake, find a nice sandy place, and lay their eggs. We've encountered them in our yard numerous times.

[dougo.livejournal.com]

Yeah, my landlord (who lives across the street) says they often come up and dig big holes in his yard to lay eggs.

[rikchik.livejournal.com]

Which would imply this is a lady turtle?

Snappers

[billpstudios.livejournal.com]

Yup, it's that time of year. We've had three come up from the lake to lay their eggs so far. They dig a hole with their tail and will lay 20-40 nice round white eggs. They can really mess up a lawn.

Soon after you may other little critters trying to dig them up.

Trivia: The snapper is the one turtle who can't actually hide completely inside their shell which is why they're so aggressive.

I haven't posted any of my photos this year but check out

Bill


http://visitscotia.blogspot.com/2006/06/snapping-turtle-time.html