Sometimes nature just shows up....

[paredown]

The big rains have hit...and I walked by, and spotted something in the grass. Then it got up and started walking to towards the house. We think it is a snapping turtle (we are close to a pond, but this is on the other side of the house.

(apologies for the very dirty windows...)

[R3awak3n]

that does look like a snapping turtle. I just moved one from the middle of the road a few weeks ago, it was an angry sob thats for sure even though I was saving its life.

[gdw]

Definitely a snapping turtle.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_snapping_turtle

[AngryScientist]

that's some kind of funny right there. he wants to come in!

[paredown]

Originally Posted by AngryScientist

that's some kind of funny right there. he wants to come in!

Actually a few strokes with the front claws on the glass--I thought about opening the door just to see if he/she wanted to come in--and then had visions of trying to move furniture to shoo the critter out...

She tried the second window as well, before she made her way around the end of the house, and down the bank in the direction of the pond. The mystery though--why pick today to explore the house?

[72gmc]

Originally Posted by R3awak3n

that does look like a snapping turtle. I just moved one from the middle of the road a few weeks ago, it was an angry sob thats for sure even though I was saving its life.

I'll assume you only approach it from the back, and carefully?

[dbnm]

We've had snakes, skunks, porcupines, raccoons and one coyote in our fenced in backyard.

[mdeth1313]

Snapper. They like to dig holes in my backyard to lay their eggs (our property drops off to a swamp). I've moved some big ones out of the road using decent size branches, smaller ones I've been able to pick up from behind.

Tons of painted turtles around here and this year I even moved a box turtle.

[old_fat_and_slow]

Wow, you missed out on a great opportunity for a free lunch!

Plenty of videos on YouTube show you how to clean a snapper. Your's looks to be pretty good eatin' size too.

[eddief]

careful.

[mcteague]

On my sidewalk last week. That’s what I get for leaving out a welcome mat.

Tim

[reuben]

Originally Posted by mdeth1313

Snapper. They like to dig holes in my backyard to lay their eggs (our property drops off to a swamp). I've moved some big ones out of the road using decent size branches, smaller ones I've been able to pick up from behind.

Yup. They love to lay eggs in the soft garden soil. The dog finds them and barks like hell. Fortunately he's barking at the non-business end. I scoop them out with a flat shovel and put them outside the fence. Lucky dog - she's brave, but wouldn't want to have one of those attached to her snout.

[Peter P.]

I started out on a bike ride last week. About a half mile out, I see two cars in the road, adjacent to each other facing opposite directions. I figure this ought to be good, a road rage incident going on and I'm gonna ride right between 'em.

But when I get there I discover the reason both cars are stopped is, a snapping turtle is crossing the road. One driver is smartly wary of picking it up to help it finish crossing. So I whip out my Zefal HP 3 and push it by the rear end to presumably get it where it's going.

What puzzled me is, I knew they laid their eggs in covered soil then headed back to the pond, but this turtle was 1/2 mile away from any body of water. I can't believe they travel that far to lay their eggs. Plus, all the backyards it would have had to travel through to get where we found it led me to think it was lost.

[2metalhips]

I came across a full size snapper in the middle of the road on a ride today. I have helped small turtles many times. So I try to pick it up, bad idea, very fast reflexes, aggressive, and ornery. So I pick up a stick and try to force it off to the side, he bites the end of the stick off! Eventually I was able to push it off the road but it was a real struggle. Mean and nasty bugger!

[tv_vt]

Definitely a snapper. Prehistoric beast there.

What kind of snake is that one on your porch? Looks a bit like an indigo snake, but yours has some spots. Guessing it's a kingsnake, though.