Snapping Turtle

We need to be on the lookout for turtles where we don't usually see them. The reason they are out and about right now is that males are looking for females. And females are looking for places to lay their eggs.

I was out hiking and snapping photos on a beautiful Saturday at the Edwin B Forsythe Wildlife Refuge when in the distance I saw something, I wasn't sure what... maybe a goose or a dog? As I got closer, I could see it was neither, it was some kind of reptile and finally I could see it was a turtle...

It's not unusual to see animals here in Ocean County - all kinds of birds, small critters like squirrels and rabbits, and sometimes even larger woodland creatures like foxes and deer. But yesterday, residents of my neighborhood were a little surprised by the big fella who literally stopped traffic.