I was walking the dog (again) and I saw this guy in the road. I wasn't sure if it was a snapping turtle or not, since they're the ones that I see the most around here, but after a quick image search, I'm pretty sure that it is a small, common snapping turtle. I tried to move this guy across the road, but I couldn't find any sticks big enough (which is crazy, because there are trees EVERYWHERE) and I didn't want to risk getting bit. Also, the dog was really curious about it, so that made it difficult to control the dog and the turtle at the same time.
After I walked away from it, a car sped by and went over a bump. But there is no bump there. I hope it wasn't the turtle :(
Turtles are so cool. It sucks that they're so vulnerable to pollution (including light pollution) and are ill-equipped to deal with roads and cars. If you ever have the chance to see young turtles feeding on fish, I highly recommend you do it. Be warned though, that they are stinky, stinky pets that poop a lot. I used to have 5 red-eared sliders, which sadly, I had to sell.
Next time find a stick dammit!
One of my odest memories is of this guy named Phillip that was a teenager when I was just 5 or 6 years old. I was walking passed his house on my way home from school and he had caught a giant snapping turtle in a big turtle trap. It was an aluminum box the size of a large microwave. He and his friends had released the turtle in their yard and had surrounded it in a circle. They put a large stick in it's mouth and it had a strong grip of it. They pulled on the stick, elongating the neck and chopped it's head off right in front of me. I remember the eyes still moving in it's head and the body of the turtle still walked around for a bit with it's head chopped off.
It was horrible.
They made soup.