Little Snapper

While mowing the lawn yesterday, my husband thought he ran over a rock where a rock shouldn't be. He stopped the mower and picked up the rock. When he washed it, the rock turned out to be a young snapping turtle. Fortunately, the turtle had sustained no injuries from its ordeal.

You can't keep a turtle in a bucket forever, so the turtle had to be relocated. Here's the underside of the turtle. .  . 

. . . and the top side.

The little snapper was returned to the bucket and then went on a the turtle equivalent of a field trip.

We chauffeured the turtle down to the farm near Dinner Creek where our horse trail begins . . .

. . . and my husband carried it to the creek . . . 

. . . and released it. What looks like a rock to the left is the turtle:

Here's another view. Apparently the turtle liked his new home, or maybe it liked the view of the minnows that swam past.

I liked the view of all the green, even the multiflora roses, an invasive species that has taken over of lot of rural land since being planted in the 1930s to help control erosion.

The horse trail begins near the creek . . . 

. . . and goes under the power lines and up the hill.

Ferns abound near the creek.

This should be a good habitat for the little snapper. But if you're riding my horse trail and you water your horse at the creek, you might want to check for turtles first. That little snapper isn't going to stay little for long.

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