Saturday, May 19, 2012

Snapping Turtle/Critter

Snapping turtle sunning itself

Cute when they are little but not so much when they are adults, snapping turtles can live up to 30 years in the wild. At least one is said to have lived to be 47 in captivity and weigh as much as 35 pounds.

I photographed this one in Algonquin Provincial Park (nearly three hours north of East Gwillimbury).

Snapping turtles live most of their lives in water, leaving it only to sun bathe, find a new home or lay eggs. That being said, females have been known to travel one or two miles to find the perfect spot for laying her eggs.  I wonder how long it takes a snapping turtle to walk a mile!

To see many more critters, visit Misty Dawn at CAMERA CRITTERS 

30 comments:

Andy said...

Nice close up Camera Girl. There's also some pretty big snappers around.

eileeninmd said...

Great capture, I think even the large Snapping turtles are neat. Kind of prehistoric looking critters. Thanks for sharing, have a great weekend!

Jill said...

Great capture! I caught one about this size while fishing many years ago.

Birdman said...

Fine job of 'snapping' this closeup.

MadSnapper said...

a beautiful shot of a not so beautiful but beautiful turtle. totally cool

Kathy said...

I guess they can be pretty ferocious.

TexWisGirl said...

i think they're so cool and prehistoric, but i HATE having them in our pond! they take ducklings one right after the other! and even break legs on adult ducks!

Cezar and Léia said...

Feels good in the sun... :)
God bless you!
Cezar

Lois Evensen said...

Very nice portrait. :) Yes, they can be pretty nasty as adults, that's for sure!

Dianne said...

that's a big guy!

annalarssonphotography said...

Great closeup!

Have a great weekend :)

Ruth Hiebert said...

Beauty is not his strong point,that's for sure.

Amila Kanchana said...

Interesting creature,why are they called snapping turtles?

Amy Burzese said...

Thanks for getting this shot, and for the info!

Pia said...

Great shot of this very special turtle. I think it´s better to use a tle lens to get the shot....

Carletta said...

That's a big snapper!!!

RedPat said...

Great portrait EG!

Darla said...

That turtle looks pretty big. They probably walk about as fast as I do :-)

Darla

Linda said...

I had a photo of a snapper in my blog today also! This one is a whopper!

Jack said...

This one looks like a turtle bodybuilder. It needs to be checked for steroids.

Kay L. Davies said...

Some serious turtle here, definitely not a young'un. Great shot, with ripples and reflections!
K

Susan said...

What a great shot of that turtle. Wow!

Anonymous said...

Great capture!

Stephanie said...

Wonderful capture!! How do they survive the winter in Ontario?

George said...

This is a great photo of the turtle. How did you get so close?

Roan said...

Not a fan of the snapper. They are taking over Bro O's pond. But, having said that, they are intriguing critters.

Splendid Little Stars said...

superb photo!
I wonder that, too. Do they ever "run?"

A Colorful World said...

This is wonderful! I enjoyed reading about the snappers. They are like prehistoric beasts! Great shot!

Anonymous said...

That turtle looks huge! Great capture.

Beyond the Dog Dish said...

I always wonder how they live so long feeding off algae and doing the slow crawl! Great photo.

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East Gwillimbury is a rural town less than an hour north of Toronto, Canada's largest city. My family calls me CameraGirl because I take my camera with me wherever I go.