RAotW #81

Check out this awesome picture sent in by Laura. I was absolutely floored by the size of this snapping turtle! I immediately went directly to the source, and asked Laura some questions about her amazing snapshot.

Q. Where exactly was this picture taken? 

Laura: It was taken on the dirt road going to my cottage, which is near Kedjimkujik National Park, in Nova Scotia.

Q. What was your reaction when you first saw it?

Laura: My mom and I were driving to our cottage, and we saw it just sitting in the middle of the road. It was really cool because I’d never seen one before. But it was kind of scary when we got really close because we weren’t sure if it would move or not. It just stayed there, so we were able to take lots of pictures, but it wouldn’t move, so I had to run the rest of the way back to my cottage to get my dad and sister. It eventually moved off the road so we could drive the rest of the way .

Q. If this turtle had a name, what would it be?

Laura: I think I did name it last summer (when the photo was taken), but I can’t remember. If I were to name it now, I would name it Fitzwilliam, after Mr. Darcy from Pride & Prejudice.

Q. Have you ever seen any other wildlife in that area?

Laura: We’ve seen tons of other animals, like deer, painted turtles, trout, and martens. Once we saw a baby porcupine in the middle of the road at night, which was really cool. Also, in the shallow water, there’s always a family of catfish in the summer. There’s two adults and a whole bunch of babies. The babies travel in a big group and look like black tadpoles with whiskers.

Thanks for sharing your picture, Laura!

-Kim, owlblog@owlkids.com