Our dry weather gave us rest from mowing lawn for several weeks. Recently we got the blessing of rain. The grass began to grow all over the farmyard. Mowing had to be done. My daughter got the job.

She had been able to mow some of the yard with a riding mower. As she mowed the highest hill in the yard, she saw a huge turtle at the bottom of the hill! She could not continue mowing with him in the way, plus she thought it could be a snapping turtle.

She bolted into the farmhouse yelling, “Mom, where’s the camera?  There is a giant turtle!”

She found it and raced out to tell her dad who was near by putting gas in the tractor.

I wiped my hands on my apron. I left my bread dough and made my way across the yard to see this giant.

Sure enough he was big! We were not sure what kind of turtle he was until he snapped at a stick my husband used to try to move him. He did not like our attention, but he could not stay in the farmyard.

The turtle had mud baked on his shell. He could have been hanging out in a patch of mud from earlier rains. The snapper eyed us with contempt. As my daughter moved toward his back side, he pivoted to keep her in sight. He was not a very trusting creature.

My husband maneuvered Mr. Turtle onto the loader of our tractor so that he could be safely moved. Mr. Turtle resisted, but he got on the loader bucket in short order. My husband set a straw bale in front of Mr. Turtle to prevent him from falling off of the loader when the tractor was in motion.

Before freeing him, we wanted to gather some hard facts about him. To do that, my husband unloaded the turtle into a pail that was large enough for him to sit in comfortably. He took the container to the feed shed where a large scale is housed. The critter tipped the scales at 15 pounds. His shell measured approximately 12 inches long and 10 inches wide, his tail was 8 inches long, and his claws an inch long. His neck could not be measured safely and besides, he kept it tucked deeply inside his shell.

Mr. Turtle may not have enjoyed his encounter with us on Heritage Farm, but we found him interesting.

My husband took Mr. Turtle to a wooded area on the farm and let him loose to find his way in this world. He gladly scooted away into the underbrush of the woods. We don’t expect him to visit us again anytime soon.

Photo Credit: Bretta Grabau
Photo Credit: Bretta Grabau
Photo Credit: Bretta Grabau
Photo Credit: Bretta Grabau