I had just pulled out of my driveway the other morning when I saw what I thought was a small bag of trash lying in the street ahead. But then I wasn’t sure what it was. And then as I passed it I could see: it was a large turtle!
I got out of the car to look it over. Its shell was at least a foot and a half long. I’ve lived here seven years and have never seen one in the neighborhood, so I was very curious where this one had come from. Perhaps she lived in the golf community behind my subdivision, as there are man-made ponds there. But where could she be going? My neighborhood is dry. Crooked Creek is about a mile away in the direction she was pointed, but a heavily traveled road lay between here and there, and she would find that to be a tricky crossing at best.
She didn’t look very happy to meet me, so I snapped a couple quick shots with my iPhone and moved on. I’m always glad I have my iPhone in my pocket – it’s a good-enough camera, always ready.
I don’t know one turtle from another, so I turned to Google, which leads me to believe this is a snapping turtle. Their reputation for ill temperament helps me not take her standoffishness personally.
In the same week, two people I follow on Facebook shared photos of similar turtles the found out and about. So it must have been a time for turtles to be on the move, perhaps for the females to lay their eggs.
Then there was the time I found a Luna moth. See it here.
Last updated on 15 March 2020 by Jim Grey
That is SOOOO awesome and a good omen of tenacity and support”! Thanks for sharing. :)
Good omen, really? I’ll take all the help I can get!
Very cool find Jim, a couple a years ago I pulled into my drive one night to find what looked like a tire retread there, turned out to be a 5 foot ball python somebody had dumped in our neighborhood.
To make the story short the cops were called,snake donated to local school and my wife still hasn’t been the same !!
Yikes! Here’s hoping I never come across a python in my driveway!
I’ve heard turtles referred to as “old mossbacks” before. Apparently it’s for good reason.
That’s a new one on me. But it fits!
Wow how fascinating! All I see on the way to work is a cow, if I’m lucky :-)
I almost hit a cow on the way to work once!
I remember there were a lot of those in the old railroad reservoirs where I grew up. They were supposed to have been able to give a nasty bite. It is odd that it is so far from water. Most of the ones that I have seen were either in the water or near it.
I guess they have amazingly long and flexible necks and can reach you to bite you from quite a range. And what I read agrees with you that they usually are found in or near water.
I’m so pleased to hear that encountering a snapper is a good omen; that rattlesnake I almost stepped on last week must be a portend of wealth and happiness!
Only for the doctor who would treat you, and only after you pay his bill.