A Painted Turtle

I glanced outside the other day and noticed something in the yard... it appeared to be moving... no, wait, it wasn't moving... oh, wait, yes, it was moving. No, it wasn't... yes... no... eventually my curiosity got the best of me. I just had to go investigate...A turtle.

Hello, Turtle! What are you doing in my yard??I'll be honest... the first thing I did was wave a twig in front of him, just to make sure he wasn't a small snapping turtle. My dad taught me that little trick. Dads are good for those kinds of important life lessons. You'd hate to lose a piece of your finger to a turtle.

But his beautiful markings quickly gave him away... he definitely wasn't a snapping turtle... he was a Painted Turtle.

Look at his underside... isn't he pretty?I guess I was the only "snapper" because I snapped these pictures of him.

But he was photo shy.Eventually I grew up and decided to leave the poor guy alone. I went back inside the house and the next time I looked outside he was gone.

I don't think he enjoyed our photo shoot as much as I did.