Brush with the King Snapper

Yesterday was a beautiful one in Austin. With temperatures raising into the 70s, Jeany, Louie and I decided a leisurely canoe ride on Lady Bird Lake was in order. Little did we know what horrors awaited us.

Spotting some peaceful Red Eared Sliders sunning themselves on a collection of felled logs, we entered an isolated inlet. As we approached one side of the swampy shore, I spotted this beast: The Alligator Snapping Turtle!

There were two of them, the smaller disappeared immediately. The larger, pictured in this grainy shot biting the smaller one from behind, roared once, displaying the raw power of his bone crushing jaws, then submerged.

Still in shock from the sighting, we allowed our canoe to drift towards shore. It wasn't until we were right on top of King Snapper that we realized our precarious position. The turtle's head was bigger than a soft ball, Jeany could have fit inside its spiky shell.

Despite my best efforts, this meager documentation was all I came away with. My line of vision was often blocked and King Snapper was not cooperative. We staked out his layer for some time after, but he never re-emerged to give me a clearer shot. Perhaps for the best. I have the sense we were lucky to escape with our lives!

When Slow and Steady Does Not Win the Race

I was camping with Thomas and Starla at Ink's Lake in Central Texas. The days were topping off at 104 degrees so we spent most of our time in the water. That's where I found this little dude. We were in the middle of a conversation, but when I saw my opportunity to grab this turtle I struck like lightening. After showing him to our camp neighbors (a group of little kids) we let him return to his watery home.

As a bizarre post-script: a human skeleton was found in the Lake a week after we left. I'll always wonder whether this young turtle had anything to do wtih that.

More Awesomeness

Sometimes I even amaze myself with these sweet sweet animal photographs. Rock.

P.S. There is definitely some reason he is sticking his huge schnoz into the gravel. But I'm not sure what it is....

Hello Turtles

Whenever I post a series of photos I took at a Zoo of aquarium, I always worry that I am copping out. After all, someone else has gone out and found the animals for me, all I need to do is show up and take their pictures. The sense of adventure is greatly minimized.

To make up for this I redouble my efforts to take truly world-class portraits of my animal subjects. This turtle picture, for example, represents one of the finest turtle pics I have yet taken. The creatures in the picture were so pleased they asked for a print to hang in their den.

Yes, It's That Big

Notice how much closer Jeany is to the camera in this shot than this snapping turtle. Now notice how ginormous the turtle is compared to Jeany. This is a snapper from Lake Michigan. When I moved to Illinois I had hoped that the Great Lakes would yield exciting new opportunities to take animal pictures, but there have been a few problems. The major issue is is winter. The second and more disheartening obstacle is that Lake Michigan has been woefully polluted and man has brought in so many invasive species that it really isn't the dynamic ecosystem I had hoped it would be. Still, it is good to see that a turtle this huge can thrive in the lake.

I really gotta start bringing a notebook

Longterm fans of this website might remember a similar picture I took of another turtle at a different zoo/aquarium. I assure you this picture is better. One thing I do need to remember is to start bringing a notebook to zoos to write down the different types of animals I photograph. Next time!

Water, above and below

If you could, would you live under water?

Awesome Friendly Turtle

I should point out that I identify this turtle as a "Box Turtle" in the video. I'm pretty sure that it isn't. Its just that i was so excited to be having lunch with such a big turtle I got confused. What si this, like a Galapagos turtle?

Soft Shelled Turtle

Taking a morning consitutional about a week ago I ran across some youngsters hosing down a large beast in their front yard. It appears that they ran across this Soft Shelled Turtle in a creek near their house. The creek is often dry this time of year but heavy rains have kept it swollen with water and have also confused some of the local fauna. They captured the turtle with the help of their father in order to deposit it in Town Lake, where they thought it had a better shot of survival. Here's hoping they were right. This old softy seemed a bit disoriented.

Clustered Turtles

These turtles are clustered at the base of the University of Texas Tower to commemorate the fatal rampage of sniper Charles Whitman, August 1, 1966. Whitman killed 13 people that day and wounded 31. The event is viewed by some as symbolic of the end of American innocence, at least as far as school shootings are concerned. I think these are common "painted turtles."