Turtle Time

If you have followed my blog for long, you know I am Mother Nature; feed just about all creatures.  Gammera and his wife remain at the farm pond, though I have thought about bringing them to the city lake.  You'll have to type in Snapping Turtle at the top left of the page to see posts of Gammera.  Anyway, the lake we have out back is full of water turtles.  They line up on rocks or land or logs to sun during the day.  As you can see, I still don't know how to crop my photos or anything relating to pictures.

They have terrific eyesight and jump into the water when you get too near them, but always arrive before the fish when there is food in the mix as they are quite the scavengers of the waterways. Won't be long before they dig down in the mud and hibernate till spring. Some of these guys are as big around as a peach basket.  Others not so much.  This smaller one decided to swim over to watch me watch him.

Turtle Time

It's turtle time again at the farm.  You can see how exciting a life I lead here.  Be that as it may, I do get a kick out of feeding the fish and turtles every evening at one of the ponds.  I have many water turtles there, but the meany snapping turtles have become quite bold.  Before I knew it the other eve, one had sped out of the water and was two feet away from my feet before I noticed it.  There is a male and female.  And, they love leftovers.  I called them meanies because they usually only like live baby fish that are waiting for me at the edge of the pond when I arrive and they are considered an aggressive species.  Their ancestor, the Alligator Snapping Turtle, can weigh 250 lbs. but thankfully I don't have any of those in my ponds.  They usually stay in streams and rivers.

They can stick their necks out very far and I guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

Here is a young Red Eared Slider turtle coming for a snack.  There are many of these in the pond.  Unlike the box or land turtles around, their feet are much larger and webbed for swimming.  Some of them have become very friendly and used to me while others float offshore with their heads above the water waiting for me to toss slices of bread their way.

This one decided to try Thai noodles.

When the other one appeared, it decided to score the chicken tender and quickly swam away with it.

So many cute creatures at the farm right now.  Tiny tree frogs, peepers and toads about the size of your little fingernail are everywhere.  I wonder how many we've squished.  A box turtle was feasting on some of the fallen peaches this morning and of course, the crows were calling me.  I was watering all the potted plants, it was 8:00 am and I was sweating like a pig.  It will be 100 degrees today and I won't be going out again until this evening to feed.

In The Evening

 My evenings are the same.  I go up to the barn and feed the animals, collect eggs when I can find them, then tend to the other critters.  I have three farm ponds and there, waiting for me, day in and day out, are the fish and turtles.  Somehow, through my footfall or the sound of the ATV, they are always waiting for me.  The swarms of fish nearest the edge of the pond are the babies/small fry and they graduate in size the farther out they go.  The fish wiggle and wriggle, excited for the bread and pellets coming their way. 

Farther back still, the turtles, heads poking out of the water, start coming across the pond.  Most are skittish and wait for me to toss food their way.  But, a few have become braver.  Case in point, the snappers.  I have two Snapping Turtles in this pond.  Their cousins, the Alligator Snapping Turtles, can grow to over 250 lbs.

Let me just tell you, they are huge, ugly beasts and until recently, only feasted on the live baby fish.  They now have decided to eat the leftover food I leave for the other pond turtles.

This lug went straight for the raspberries and returned several times.

Then she spied a smaller Red Eared Slider coming to the feast.

Thai noodles?  Alright.

With berry stained lips, it went for the chicken tender and decided to head back out into the pond with her score,  just as the other snapper showed up.

So go the days at my farm.

Turtle soup anyone?