Old Man Snapper

Sometimes it pays to take the back way home. It was another one of those slam on the brakes and turn around to have another look days. I was shocked to see this huge turtle about to cross the street. He is large. He reminds me of the huge desert tortoises in California. We have a pond behind our house and on rare occasions we have seen small snapping turtles, but I had no idea that something like this exists in my neighborhood. He looks old and tired and maybe even unwell. He was headed across the street away from the pond and toward the creek. It's possible that he had a wild ride in one of the crazy hail storms we've had in the past 24 hours. He might even be a little confused and disoriented. But I wasn't about to get too friendly with him because he has a big head with razor sharp teeth and knows how to use them. Google identified him as a Chelydra serpentina (Common Snapping Turtle) and said they grow to be 12-14 inches and this one was every bit of 14 inches.. That's not even counting his 7 inch tail that looked more like an alligator tail than a turtle's. He's not an alligator turtle though, because his shell is far too smooth.

I hope he survived his journey across the street.