I had a great walk in the woods yesterday. I almost didn’t go because there was heavy frost overnight and it only warmed up to 54 degrees F. But my philosophy is if you’re not looking, you’re not finding, so I went anyway and had a very successful day.
Painted Turtles were basking.
To paraphrase Ratso Rizzo, “Hey! I’m swimming here!”
The one on the left climbed up and his wet shell dried in the sun while I watched; the one on the right gave him an open-mouth threat when he got too close.
As I was heading out I spotted a round, flat thing in the water about 120 feet off shore, near an island. It reminded me of a softshell, which aren’t found in this pond. I set up my camera for a closer look. DX, 300 mm plus 1.4 TC, 100% crop, to give you an idea how far away it was.
It was a Snapper. He was in an odd pose, too high out of the water, and he was moving with small jerking motions.
There appeared to be something underneath him. You can see a leech on the margin of his carapace just in front of the bridge.
He was really interested in it.
It looked like a pair of Snappers that was mating. As I looked through the viewfinder I became aware of a Bullfrog hopping behind them (arrow).
Finally, the female’s head popped up.
Again, the female's nose is visible.
200% crop. Looks like he's biting her neck.
She moved out to the side (her right, our left).
The front margin of the female’s carapace is visible on the left.
I watched for 45 minutes or longer and the male showed no sign of giving up.
Curiously, about 20 people walked by me on the path during that 45 minutes, and in spite of my camera on a big tripod with a long lens and my obvious interest in something out there not one of them saw the turtles or asked what I was looking at.
Other sightings included Green Frogs.
Hooded Mergansers
Escargot
At another stop, there was nothing out and I was thinking about leaving when I spotted a muskrat. These things will make great food for the Burms when they finally migrate up to Chicago as predicted by the feds.
As I watched the rat I heard Sandhill Cranes calling and a courting pair did two flybys right over my head.
It was a great day! Thanks for looking and pardon the non-herps, but they were part of the day.
Mating Snappers, 54 Degrees
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- Steve Barten
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Re: How They Make Baby Dinosaurs
sounds like a nice day- cool snapper
-Ian
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- Mike VanValen
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Re: How They Make Baby Dinosaurs
I saw a pair of snappers doing the same thing a few weeks back when it got over 80 degrees up here. I wasn't able to get photos like that. Nice observation.