Common Snapping Turtle | Profile It’s amazing how much ground they can cover in a short time. It seems like they are moving very slowly, but look away for a few minutes and they are gone. They just keep moving. For the whole story with all images, see Common Snapping Turtle | a 7 Image Story.
Common Snapping Turtle | Eyeball to Eyeball Of course, I was not really close enough to be eyeball to eyeball. Remember the 300mm lens times 2.7 crop factor yields 810mm on a Nikon 1 V3. So, I was not disturbing the turtle. For the whole story with all images, see Common Snapping Turtle | a 7 Image Story.
Common Snapping Turtle | Digging This turtle seemed to be digging and wallowing in a pile of mulch. Never know what my evening walkabouts will turn up. For the whole story with all images, see Common Snapping Turtle | a 7 Image Story.
Common Snapping Turtle | Sprinting They move slowly like all turtles; although, the snapping turtle can move fast for a turtle. For the whole story with all images, see Common Snapping Turtle | a 7 Image Story.
Common Snapping Turtle | Swimming Snapping turtles are very good swimmers with their webbed feet. This turtle looked like a rock floating down the lake. Wait a minute, rocks don’t float. Nope, it was a turtle, a really big turtle. The turtle turned a bit to parallel the lakeshore. Click! For the whole story with all images, see Common Snapping Turtle | a 7 Image Story.
Common Snapping Turtle | Looking Skyward When you’re a turtle, just looking over the grass can be a challenge. For the whole story with all images, see Common Snapping Turtle | a 7 Image Story.
Common Snapping Turtle | Close Up Spring brings new life. It’s time for turtles to lay eggs. This Common Snapping Turtle came out onto cut grass in the warmth of the sun to lay her eggs. Notice her eyes; completely camouflaged. The Nikon 1 V1 with the 70-300mm (focal length 810mm) lens allowed me to stay far enough away to not disturb her. For the whole story with all images, see Common Snapping Turtle | a 7 Image Story.
Common Snapping Turtle | a 7 Image Story The Common Snapping Turtle is a very large turtle. Its top shell, called a carapace, generally grows to 10 – 20 inches long while the turtle can weigh 15 – 55 pounds. Their colors are usually dull brown to black with a large head and hooked jaw. They have webbed feet with long claws and a very long tail. These turtles are very shy in the water, but on land they can be very aggressive giving a painful bite. Snapping turtles are believed to have evolved the ability to snap because, unlike other turtles, they are too large to hide in their shells when confronted. Snapping turtles will bite humans if threatened, but only as a last resort.
Capturing snapping turtle images can sometimes be a bit tricky. They move slowly like all turtles; although, the snapping turtle can move fast for a turtle. Certainly, a telephoto lens should be used for the safety of both the turtle and photographer. Whats amazing to me as a photographer is how their eyes seem to be camouflaged just like their bodies.
Each image will be posted individually this week with a bit more narrative under category Common Snapping Turtle.
Click any image below for a slide show!
