Some turtles

[BlueCoyote 0]

i had a pet alligator snapping turtle at one point in time -

 

 

they grow FAST in captivity too!

interesting thing to have in the tank for a while. he's a pond turtle now. but i would waste hours just watching him catch fish with that little lure on his tongue.

 

and here is a Gopher tortoise at the local wild life management area.

these are cool to look at and watch - they get a decent size. its great to find their burrows while out hiking. but there was one scary incident involving an area that had a huge gopher tort. population. we were out riding horses with an old man friend of ours(highsprings Florida). we were watching as carefully as possible so we didnt tread on top of a burrow... our friend stopped paying a attention at one point and his horse went down. and down.... the old fella was lucky he got out of the way as quick as he did because his horse spazzed out trying to get back up, but there were so many holes that kept caving in every time she put her feet down she just kept tripping. she nearly rolled over on top of him at one point. all we could do was watch because the horse was out of control and rather dangerous. it was a miracle she didnt break her leg too.

after she got her footing and was standing upright again all was well.... but we went riding elsewhere after that.

it was a sad shame too because these animals make a burrow and live there their entire lives... unless something like this happens. it wouldnt have happened if we'd stayed on the trail. i've learned since then... but the men i was riding with already knew better.

 

we have a few gophers around here but not at all like in High Springs.

 

anyway felt like sharing

[scar 0]

cool pics

[BlueCoyote 0]

thanks