June 4, 2025

Today while out on an errand, a Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentia) was spotted alongside the road but past experience kept any help from occurring. Their necks are what gives them the specific epithet, serpentia, meaning “snake-like”. No matter how they are lifted, that head can come back and bite.

This image is of a baby Snapping Turtle that ambled through the yard a few years ago and decided to make my pond its home for a while. It was tiny compared to the one that was seen today.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching the Snapping Turtle and learning while it was living in the pond.

This turtle, like other turtles, has a shell called a carapace, over the top of their back. As it gets older it continues to get larger, generally being 8″ to 18.5″ long. Its tail is nearly as long as the carapace, and that muscular neck with the snapping mouth, that you must watch out for, is maybe 1/2 to 3/4 the length of the carapace. It’s a solitary creature whose life span is maybe 30 to 40 years.

This fun creature lived out there in the pond for 5 years. I have no idea where it went. Surely looking for another adventure.

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