Common Snapping Turtle
Every once in a while I have a ‘what would Paul Jones do?’ moment. And this was one: just after sunrise, in a remote part of the trails around the Lake, I came across a monstrously large CST moving from the Lake to a large pond adjacent to the Lake. The Jones question occurs because I know he has two objectives, with one more important than the other: first, protect the creature, and in doing that, try to secure a decent image, but not if it exposes the creature. I also had in my head an echo of Paul’s amazing Blanding’s Turtle event, which led him to conclude, in image terms, that he would approach the Turtle at a 45 degree angle and make turtle sounds to attract a side glance. The Turtle felt it needed to get somewhere, so if I were to get a photograph I could not interfere. So I tried the 45 degree angle/turtle sound approach. Not knowing what sounds Turtles make, I think I ended up singing Happy Together. I was able to get this image and give the animal a bit of a boost in the right direction. Physical distancing with humans was observed at all times; with the CST, not so much. Paul's image and story: www.flickr.com/photos/paulbjones/49739210766/.
Common Snapping Turtle
Every once in a while I have a ‘what would Paul Jones do?’ moment. And this was one: just after sunrise, in a remote part of the trails around the Lake, I came across a monstrously large CST moving from the Lake to a large pond adjacent to the Lake. The Jones question occurs because I know he has two objectives, with one more important than the other: first, protect the creature, and in doing that, try to secure a decent image, but not if it exposes the creature. I also had in my head an echo of Paul’s amazing Blanding’s Turtle event, which led him to conclude, in image terms, that he would approach the Turtle at a 45 degree angle and make turtle sounds to attract a side glance. The Turtle felt it needed to get somewhere, so if I were to get a photograph I could not interfere. So I tried the 45 degree angle/turtle sound approach. Not knowing what sounds Turtles make, I think I ended up singing Happy Together. I was able to get this image and give the animal a bit of a boost in the right direction. Physical distancing with humans was observed at all times; with the CST, not so much. Paul's image and story: www.flickr.com/photos/paulbjones/49739210766/.