Snapping Turtle

The Husband and I were setting out on our morning walk. As we were crossing our neighbors driveway, headed for the little creek in the woods that we've put a bridge over so we don't have to jump or wade (tiny creek - you can literally basically step over it when it hasn't been raining much), I looked down the driveway at the road about 50 to 75 feet away and saw a lump in the middle of it. Huh. So I said "What's that lump in the road?" He said "What lump?" Thinking it looked like either a lump of vegetable matter, or a turtle with its head up, I walked down to the road and - sure enough! - it was a snapping turtle. Not a huge snapping turtle, but not a small one either. Its shell was maybe 8 or 10 inches in diameter? Anyhoo - I snapped a quick shot of it in the road (see extra) - and then picked it up and got it - and myself - out of the road asap. I thank the Wildlife Center of Virginia for teaching me how to safely pick up these extremely bitey creatures. Trust me, you do NOT want to be bitten by a snapping turtle. And they have very long necks so you can't just casually grab them by the sides of their shell like you would a slider or a box turtle. We decided that rather than leave it just on the edge of the road, it would be safer to put it right at the creek. Which is where this picture of it was taken. It toodled immediately into the water and seemed perfectly happy to be there. And on our return it had completely disappeared. I'm going to assume it knew where it was going. Possibly a female who had just laid eggs? Who knows. In any case - our timing was perfect. There's a lot of traffic on that road and it would have been a goner in a few minutes.