Monday, August 5, 2013

TURTLES, TURTLES EVERYWHERE!


There are actually three turtles in this image…see the small soft-shell?



A couple of mornings ago I stepped onto the deck, glanced at the river, and noticed a couple of turtles sunning on a rock. That will make a nice photo, I thought, and took a moment to retrieve my camera.

One of the offshoot virtues of photography is that it compels you to look closer, pay better attention to details and scrutinize the scene before you. In doing this, you regularly spot things you've overlooked. 

That's what happened once I'd made a few shots of the two turtles above…I took the  time to really look at the rocks and riffle, and suddenly realized practically every suitable stone hosted a sunning turtle, sometimes two or three or more! Snappers, various soft-shelled, sliders. Turtles no bigger than a silver dollar and turtles way larger than a dinner plate. At least thirty turtles that I counted—possibly more!

Turtles, turtles everywhere!

There are four turtles in this image.

8 comments:

Debbie said...

How interesting and diverse the turtle population. I've never seen the smooth ones. Of course most of the turtles I see are the unfortunate who tried to cross the road. I have been known to pull over under safe conditions and remove said turtles to a safer place. Only if it's safe! When visiting a lake or pond, I enjoy looking for anything that lives in the water. :D
Debbie

Grizz………… said...

Debbie…

Glad you liked the piece. We have about a dozen different turtle species here in Ohio—including several of the soft-shelled/musk variety. Over the years I've kept a number of box turtle (land-based turtles common in the hill-country woods) as pets, some for years, feeding them bananas, lettuce, dog food, etc. I'd just let them wander around the house at will. You never knew where or when one would turn up. All seemed to do well (none kicked the bucket, anyway) and when I got ready to return them to the wild, I took them back to the exact spot where I found them. Doubtless this would now be illegal—and having recently watched the news report of Wisconsin's gestapos DNR who stormed a home and executed a whitetail fawn still in spots, both I and the turtles would probably be shot dead for our sins.

Gail said...

HI GRIZZ - I love the pictures, glorious.nature at its best. Providing water and rock and food and sun to thrive, survive. I love the feel here, love it.
Gail
peace......

Grizz………… said...

Gail…

If the turtles are happy, and my blog readers are happy…hey, I'm happy!

BTW, like the new portrait.

Gail said...

thanks, made me blush.
love you
Gail
peace......

Grizz………… said...

Gail…

No need for blushing…it's a nice shot and the color suits you. A compliment. :-)

Jenn Jilks said...

I love our turtles. Thank you for sharing yours!
Right now, I'm dealing with yellow jackets in my garden. No fun.

Grizz………… said...

Jennifer A. Jilks…

Re. those yellow jackets: try leaving a few partial bottles of sugared soda sitting around the back yard. Just an inch or two in the bottle will suffice. The yellow jackets follow the sweet trail in, can't easily escape, and drown.