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Project Noah Nature School
Chelydra serpentina serpentina
This photo series gives new meaning to the phrase, "Gettin' down and dirty!"
Huntley Meadows Park, a 1,425 acre wetland area in Fairfax County, Virginia USA. Related Resource: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/parks/huntl...
Copyright © 2012 Walter Sanford. All rights reserved. www.wsanford.com
Spotted on Apr 19, 2012
Submitted on May 14, 2012
4 Comments
Great spotting! Those are some strange looking turtles, and very muddy.
For a couple of weeks around the time of this spotting, this type of ”turtle behavior" was an everyday occurrence. You should have been there, Neil! I must say, there is a lot of aggression (or so it appeared to me) when snapping turtles mate! In other words, I'm not sure this spotting truly belongs in the "Southern Romance" mission. ;-)
I'm glad I found this spotting. I'm a herpetologist (got my MS degree in 2010) and have seen probably over 250 snapping turtles. But I've yet to see two mating. You've captured it perfectly with this series of photographs. Nice job!
I thought they were hatchlings when I first looked!! How funny! Great spotting, Walter!