#chelydra

[herpsandbirds]

Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina), family Chelydridae, Eastern U.S.

photograph by Carly Sprott

[great-and-small]

Anyone who works with wildlife will tell you it’s a good thing for wild patients to show hostility towards humans even after a long stay in the hospital, and honestly I think snapping turtles might be the best at this. We surgically repaired this little dude’s broken mandible and provided care in hospital for a few months but bless his heart he never stopped hating my fucking guts. Even with a broken jaw he’d snap at me so viciously whenever I had to give him meds and I love him like a son

This feisty creature’s implant was removed once he’d healed and he was successfully released back into the wild near where he was found. Good luck out there bud, I sincerely hope every wildlife patient I ever see going forward has your disdain for humans!

(These photos were taken while the patient’s enclosure was being cleaned, and he was never handled without medical or husbandry cause)

[saritawolf]

Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) - (c) SaritaWolf - please do not repost

[haasio]

[dendroica]

Common Snapping Turtle (via USFWS Mountain-Prairie)

A common snapping turtle photographed at GPNFH

Gavins Point National Fish Hatchery, Yankton, SD.

Photo: Sam Stukel, USFWS

[geopsych]

Today I met a snappy boi. Actually, probably a snappy gurl looking for a place to lay her eggs. I hated to see her on the side of the road where she might get hurt, but I did not, on the other hand, want to risk picking her up and carrying her anywhere! May she lay many healthy eggs in a safe place and then find her way back to peaceful waters!

[cedar-glade]

Chelydra serpentina enjoying a stroll around Cedar Falls.

[that-crazy-scorpio-man]

Common snapping turtle (Chelydra serpentina).  Saw it right after I had to bypass a moccasin.