Snapping Turtle

I've been trying to walk the dog in the mornings. It really, really is not fun. But then I think about how much B really, really thinks getting up and going to work is not fun and I suck it up and take the silly dog for a walk. I think though that with perseverance, I could learn to like it.

We have a lovely pathway that runs behind our house, along the catchment for the overflow of the local conservation area pond. 'Nuk and I walk there. Last Monday morning I came around the bend and was met with a flooded pathway. I stopped. Considering whether I could go around the extra water, I noticed a turtle at the side of the path, her back end quite buried in the gravel. Some real nature happening there, folks. Hopefully there'll be baby turtles soon. 'Nuk and I turned and headed home where I pulled out my turtle pictures to hopefully be able to identify the type of turtle she was.

Most turtles are kind of dull coloured. I wasn't having much luck with the identification process. I knew she hadn't any stripes on her nor did she have a multi-coloured shell. That narrowed it down to two endangered species or a snapper.

Fast forward to Thursday morning. Same path. Further along, 'Nuk and I stopped to consider taking the shortcut through the greenbelt home, or do we go back along the path the way we came. It's not yet 8 a.m.; these things need to be pondered. Goodness knows where my brain was, because I suddenly noticed that 'Nuk was very nearly standing on a turtle. It was a big turtle. Shortcut it was! I rushed home with the dog and returned with the camera.

There's a funny part to all of this. Not Funny-funny. But weird-funny. Just a week ago, we got a package from the Toronto Zoo. The Package contained information about Ontario's eight turtle species and the Zoo's Turtle Tally program. And here I was wondering how I was going to be able to find a turtle to tally.

Some pics of the beast: