Turtle Woes

Today in between my gorge tours, I was at the upper parking lot of Buttermilk Falls. I had just finished my lunch and was heading back to the car, when I saw this baby snapping turtle in the parking lot. It looked pretty dry and was a good distance away from water (not to mention sitting in the middle of a PARKING LOT!) So I took it on a little hike to Lake Treman and released it in the pond. I hope it was a good spot for it - I sent it on its way with good wishes from myself, Flash & the late Gordon. The poor thing seemed pretty tired. It didn't struggle much at all (which is kind of strange for a wild turtle.) It did put up a good effort with trying to deter me with some nasty stank though! Turtles have many ways to protect themselves, and putting out a strong stink is one of them. It took a few washings to get rid of that funk, but all is good now!! It was a baby snapping turtle. Funny thing is that I caught my first snapping turtle last year at The Peninsula. It was a little smaller and a bit feistier! Here are some pictures of the one from last year (they're a little better because they're with a real camera - the first one - from today is with my phone.)
And here is the biggest snapping turtle that I have ever seen in the wild. It was also at The Peninsula. Unfortunately they "re-did" that lake over the winter and dug it up. I hope that all the turtles survived - I know for a fact that there were several who called that pond "home."
This guy must had been close to 3ft from head to tail tip - maybe even more! HUGE!!!!