We had a pretty amazing visitor at Clague yesterday. She was first spotted behind the building and soon everyone was hanging out of the first and second story windows looking at her in awe. Who was she? Well, her scientific name is Chelydra serpentina . You may know her as the common snapping turtle.
Thanks to Ms. Campbell, one of our life science teachers, we were able to learn quite a bit about snapping turtles right on the spot. For instance, judging by her size, she is between 40 or 50 years old! For more information, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources lists some fast facts about the common snapping turtle. Their article Michigan’s Turtles is terrific! Do not miss it!
Our visitng serpentina walked for about 40 seconds at a time before resting in our long, cool grass. She did not seem to mind getting her photo taken and, if you look closely at her “glamour shot”, she seems to be smiling. However, she hissed when we got too close. Luckily, Ms. Campbell was there to warn us about a snapping turtle’s ability to chop one of our fingers off. We kept our distance. P.S. Later in the day, Mr. Hoeflinger, Ms. Badel and Mr. Zera actually saw her in the building as she tried to use the back stairwell as a short cut to Thurston Pond. Who left the doors open??
Snappingturtle Watch this video of Ms. Campbell describing our visitor.
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Resting in the long, cool grass.
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Glamour shot: A big smile for the camera
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Rising up on all fours.
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The getaway.
