I'm Outta Here!

  Sometimes friends are not so friendly...especially when they are of the critter kind.  Occasionally, the critters just do not want to play nicely!  It is those that I tend to leave to their own territory and I do not tread there.  In the Bayou, there are several of these "friends" that seem to be a bit more of fiends than friends.  They are just downright grouchy!

  This afternoon, I was busy in the yard once again.  The entire place is getting a "makeover" and it is quite the ordeal.  It seems that all of the gardens need to be uprooted and either replanted or just kept empty. The work is tedious but I enjoy it as it gives me time to think.  While digging out bulbs on the west side of the house, I noticed something on the mudflats down by the pier.  The Bayou is full of critters that are out and about enjoying the springlike weather.  Love is in the air for a lot of them.  Too bad that "love" does not lighten their mood!  The critter that I noticed on the mudflats was a snapping turtle. She was not a huge one but rather a nice medium sized one.  She was searching for a snack and thought the flats might have trapped a few minnows.  I eased down to photograph the little lady as she busied herself with the minnows.  While my attention was focused on her, another critter made its way onto the flats.  A much larger turtle sludged through the mud and was heading to the same spot where the smaller turtle was feeding.  

  The large snapping turtle stopped in its tracks when it finally noticed me.  It was not but a few feet from my perch on the pier and, had I been lower, might have been a threat to me.  Since the pier sits high above the marsh, I was safe from those powerful jaws!  They are not called snapping turtles for nothing!  Besides being tremendously strong with jaws that can rip through flesh, these guys have knife like claws that can be just as damaging.  Plus...they are notoriously cranky and will not hesitate to bite or scratch.  They are best left alone and watched from a distance!

 After about twenty minutes of our stare down, the bright sunshine was drying the turtle a bit and probably making it quite uncomfortable.  I made a sudden movement to swat a gnat and the turtle dove under the soft mud.  Its powerful legs and claws had it completely submerged within ten seconds.  I could not see one part of the very large turtle. That this huge snapping turtle could slide all the way beneath the mud in just a matter of seconds makes it clear that no one should be traipsing about the marshes!  A snapping turtle can latch onto a foot or hand and do some major damage!  While I still consider the snapping turtles as friends of the Bayou,  I will let these cranky critters have plenty of space!