Saturday, September 25, 2010

Soft Shelled Turtle




I saw this very interesting turtle at World Golf Village on Saturday. He (or she) was enjoying the crackers that some folks were tossing into the pond. I kept asking them to toss the crackers closer to me, so I could get better photos of him. Since they didn't know me, they weren't inclined to lose the excellent view of the turtle.  Thankfully a leaf came floating in front of me and the turtle rushed over to get a better look at it.

Google is truly an amazing invention.  Sometimes I sit in awe of what we can learn in a few moments.  I knew this turtle was different than any other turtle I'd ever seen before.  I showed my husband the photos of the turtle and asked what he thought and he said it was a snapping turtle.  I Googled "Snapping Turtle Florida" and clicked on images.  Around page five I found a photo of a little snout nosed turtle that looked a lot like the one in question.  It said it was a soft shelled turtle.  I Googled that and that's my guy!

The National Zoo site has a nice bit of info on the Soft Shelled Turtle.  It's just a one page piece if you want to click over.  It says that the turtle looks like a big pancake.  I'd have to agree!  He's much flatter than I'm used to turtles looking like.  It also says that the turtle's skin actually covers the shell.  This guy is not endangered or threatened, but he is frequently used for soup.  I wasn't prepared for that soup part!  Poor guy.

They have long necks, webbed feet, and can breathe underwater. I do believe that they live most of their life in the water, hence the webbed feet. It doesn't look like the feet of this turtle are rigid at all. I wonder if it can walk on land? I didn't find that out.


Have you ever seen one of these snout nosed turtles before?

Unknown Mami

I'm going to link this post up with Sundays In My City even though I wrote it yesterday.  Please go on over to UnKnown Mami's place to see other fabulous cities.

Kristin

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

OMG, i love love seeing turtles in the wild. I don't like hearing about the "soup" part either.

Ann in the UP said...

I couldn't see your picture, though I'm sure it's excellent, since my blogger refuses to download it. But the article is very interesting indeed.

I laughed at the "throwing crackers in the pond" part. You are in Florida, after all. And the turtle is carniverous. LOL

Sonya said...

Ooooh wow..Im a ginormouse turtle fan and those shots are awesome!! I love the layout of your blog!

BLOGitse said...

So cute!
Turtles are ugly and beautiful...more beautiful! :)
Have a good week ahead!

Debby@Just Breathe said...

No I have never seen one before. His neck is really long like you said. You got some great shots.

Theodora Ofosuhima said...

What a great experience. I never saw a turtles in the wild and the way your picture are but together provide just that.
Happy Sunday.

Amy DM said...

I've never seen that turtle before.

It's always fun to learn new things though, isn't it?

pontiusmsu said...

I've never seen a turtle like this one either. His or her little snout nose is quite comical :)

RNSANE said...

Very interesting guy. I guess he's trying his best to avoid the soup pot. I must confess to having had turtle soup before....quite delicious. I wasn't sure where it came from or if turtles weren't farmed for it. I don't think I'll have it again, though.

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Claudya Martinez said...

I've only ever seen one of those turtles in my soup before. I'm kidding! Nope, never seen one before. Pretty cool.

qandlequeen said...

Gotta wonder who was the first person to look at a turtle and think "soup"? I've had alligator so I can't imagine it's much different (again, who looked at one of those and thought food?)

Maria said...

That's a real find! It's great when you can get the elusive shot!

Unknown said...

I don't believe i've seen one of these before.

Love the revolving pictures.