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

[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?