Mind Your Toes

After it rained all morning, we finally got out this afternoon. We went to the pond to look for frogs but found this baby snapping turtle instead.

I'm generally not a fan of these turtles, as the adults have been known to bite off human fingers. I've seen a couple of snappers in the pond, one whose shell is a good 18 in / 45 cm long. We also had a young turtle in the yard last summer that was quite aggressive -- then again, I'd hiss, too, if I had a maniacal dog barking in my face. It bit onto a stick and held on. That was how I carried it back to the pond. Quickly and at arm's length, of course.

This little guy was no more than 2 in / 5 cm long, so I'm guessing it hatched recently. No snapping, no hissing -- just a mutual look-see before we sent him back to the pond to live out the next 30 years and grow to a nice toe-amputating size.