What is a turtle who has taken up photography called? Snapping turtle. 🙂
This past summer, on two different occasions, we came upon snapping turtles as they cautiously emerged from the cover of green grass and made the trek from one side of the country road to the other.
The first turtle stopped to bask in the sun for a while before continuing its journey across. Then it strolled through the grass, took a dive into a water-filled ditch, and disappeared.
The second turtle strolled down the road for a short time and then headed for a ditch and into a wooded area.
Later in the summer, while out walking, we found a baby snapping turtle that was sitting in the middle of the road. Afraid that it might not make it to its destination safely, we carefully helped it across the road in the direction that it was headed.
Snapping turtles are fascinating and always fun to watch from a distance.
Once you’ve committed yourself to something, pace yourself to the finish line. ~Meb Keflezighi
walking on a country road 
Handsome fellows!
They do have a certain charm. 🙂
Not the prettiest, nor friendliest turtle in the pond, but they sure are fascinating!
They are fascinating. I love to watch them.
To the contrary, they are beautiful. That first one was a good sized snapper. The baby is adorable.
I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder. 🙂 This was the first time I had seen a baby. It looked lost out in the big world.
I can imagine. Such a tiny thing that other critters want to eat.
Great action captures, Rebecca, of these interesting turtles. I really enjoyed your video…I don’t know that I’ve seen a snapping turtle walk that far before.
Thanks, Ellen. They can move rather quickly when they really want to.
That baby one looks like he has a ratio of his inner self on his shell.
True! Thanks, Kathy.
I was amazed at just how fast that turtle went in the video … I was thinking more like a slow crawl. That little one was cute. I follow Crosswinds Marsh on Facebook and the naturalist who writes the post is always picking up baby turtles as she worries people won’t see them in the road. Watch your fingers! I like your joke up top Rebecca!
Thanks, Linda! I think the human taking photos probably motivated it to hustle to its destination. They can move quite quickly when they want to. I have seen photos and videos of baby turtles, but this was the first that I had actually seen out in nature. I guess it was a long trek across the road for such a little one.