Spiny Softshell Mama

 Mama Spiny Softshell Turtle never learns, bless her heart. She is laying her eggs in the driveway again this year.

These turtles look prehistoric to me.

Thea is a budding wildlife biologist.

June 13, 2017 - Joe Humphrey gave me the yucca about 20 years ago. The four-o'clocks are rampant every year. Some of this is prairie sunflowers that won't bloom till September. Somehow this wild corner of my yard pleases me.

 

June 13, 2017 - Our river walk was beautiful again this evening.

Left to right: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow.

June 13, 2017
Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera)
A face only a mother could love. The cone-shaped spines on the leading edge of the carapace are the basis for the common and scientific names.

June 13, 2017
Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera)
I suppose she has finished laying eggs somewhere south of the pond and is now returning to her home in the pond.

Dennis Wipper
Or as I see it, Mitch heading back to the swamp!
... I'm sorry, I just realized that I insulted the turtle.

Terrell Shaw
As a lover of wetlands I hate equating Mitch or Donald, etc. with the beautiful and fascinatingly diverse critters I see in our marvelous marshes! /-)

Anita Stewart
Another great photo....especially love the reflection of the clouds on the lake.

June 13, 2017
Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera)
The quarter gives some persprctive to this big mama reptile.

Deborah Lake Dawson
Pretty shell!

June 13, 2017
Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera)

June 13, 2017 - whoops, this one is fuzzy. 
Spiny Softshell Turtle (Apalone spinifera)

Deborah Lake Dawson
What kind of turtle is this guy, very odd looking snout.

Terrell Shaw
I have labeled it now. Softshells are very common but you rarely see them out of the water except when the mamas come out to lay eggs. They look sorta extraterrestrial don't they?

Melissa Howard
Wow

Dennis Wipper
Mitch McConnell's father?

Laurie Craw
A dinosaur

Gleaning Facebook: Fauna of Arrowhead

The well-feathered Barn Swallow nest on the front porch at Arrowhead is home to four speckled eggs as of Tuesday.

 

I may have interrupted this female Spiny Soft-shelled Turtle as she was preparing to lay some eggs right in the middle of the drive. After our extended photo shoot she ambled off the road and back to the lake.