A Common Snapping Turtle Gets Down and Dirty

This Common Snapping Turtle came out of the muck of Great Swamp to bask with a piece of the swamp stuck to its back. Although it might make the snapping turtle feel a little more secure via a little  camouflage [1], gunk on the carapace does cut down on the sun rays it's able to absorb. I've certainly seen them basking further out of the water, though they spend more of their time in shallow water. 

If humans were worrying the snapping turtle, it would probably be happy to hear that I wouldn't have noticed it if I wasn't scanning the area with my binoculars. With the naked eye, I doubt I'd have spotted it. (This is also how I spotted yesterday's Green Heron; I have no idea if they're friends.)

May 11, 2023 at Great Swamp
Photo 282421749, (c) jpviolette, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC)

[1] Adult snapping turtles don't have a lot of predators; similar to deer, their main predator these days might be the automobile. Still, while they have a fierce reputation when encountered on land, they're supposed to be mellower about encounters in the water where they feel more comfortable.

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