I was walking across a foot bridge over the stream running along Bismarck’s east edge…minding my own business, if that’s possible with a 300mm lens. I glanced at the water below as I casually made my way back toward my truck…but wait! The water moved in a very peculiar fashion, or part of it did, anyway. I swung my camera over to get a closer look.

The water’s pretty low right now, and dark as well. There’s a bit of moss, algae, and debris that add a lot of clutter to the surface in the shallower parts of the stream. That’s where I saw a familiar shape gliding along slowly, leaving a muddy trail of swirling eddies in the muddy current behind it. It was a HUGE snapping turtle.

I tried to hold the camera steady as he eased to a stop and poked his head out of the water. His head alone was at least the size of my fist if not larger! His jagged shell stayed obscured by the water, and his head blended in with the debris almost perfectly. Had I not seen his slow movements a moment before, I’d never have spotted him.

He looked about for a minute or two, although it certainly seemed like a much longer time. I leaned on the railing of the bridge and snapped away, hoping to get at least a couple of clear pictures. When a lens is zoomed out that far, it’s hard to be steady enough without a tripod or monopod. I had neither; they were back in the truck, of course.

His curiosity satisfied, he eased his head back into the water and began to swim under the clutter. In doing so he lost some of his muddy cover, and it was then that I got a fleeting glance at his shell…just before he disappeared under the plant cover for good.

Watch your fingers and toes in the shallow water east of Bismarck!