Greene View Springs' Nessie

I've mentioned the snapping turtle that lives in our pond a few times in the past few weeks. Today I was able to get close enough without startling him to get a few shots.

The first picture shows his shell pretty well. It seems either to have some growth on it or to have accumulated some debris from the pond sticking to it. I think it is debris because it wasn't visible the last time I saw him just a week or so ago. But either way it looks bizarre, like a distorted hump.

Of course the smaller, apparently separate, part protruding from the pond is his head, obviously not separate at all.



Enlarge this second picture to get a really spooky look at one of his eyes sticking out of the water with his snout on the left. Neither picture gives a good idea of his actual size, but the shell is at least a foot long.