Visitor With Attitude

When describing the Common Snapping Turtle, someone came up with, "belligerent disposition". I can not think of anything better.

Tommy and I came across this beauty searching for a nest site to lay her eggs, and I would say she was about 14 inches of attitude. I believe the state record for this extremely common turtle is approximately 18 inches and a bit over forty pounds.

For reasons I don't understand, and cannot begin to explain, In my younger days I would not have been able to resist capturing this snapping turtle. I have handled some extremely large snappers in my past, but as I get older and slower I appreciate the fact that I have managed to keep all my fingers for the past 50 something years.

Maybe when the boy gets older I will teach him the fine art of Snapping Turtle wrangling.
Or maybe not!