This is another elusive species that took @papa-pepper years to encounter in the wild.

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However, because the @little-peppers have @papa-pepper as their Papa, it didn’t take them nearly as long to be able to check them out in person. In fact, when @mama-pepper went to a Women’s Conference a few year back and left @papa-pepper solo with the @little-peppers, we went on quite an adventure.

Before we were done, we were in the Wisconsin Dells feeding live alligators, but before we went there, we wound up outside of Baraboo, WI at “Devil’s Lake.” Among other exciting animals we encountered that day were two little, baby, Spiny Softshell Turtles.

The basic shape of these interesting turtles resembles a pancake, and they have an incredibly pointed nose. This allows these turtles to just barely break the surface with their nostrils to breathe, which makes them difficult to notice sometimes.

For years @papa-pepper has been catching Softshell Turtles in the irrigation ditches in south Texas, but this fairly common river turtle is much harder to capture by hand in greater volumes of water. In his life, @papa-peppers has successfully jumped out a canoe to capture one, found them buried in the mud under the water, caught them swimming in the water, and found a very large female on land.

In the water, their natural habitat, these turtles are extremely fast, and can even outswim many species of fish. Obviously, this is why they are so very difficult to capture by hand!

These are a very strange-looking and remarkable turtle indeed, and we are so blessed to have gotten to check them out up close and in person.

Check out our Field Guide page and a few short videos and see what you think!

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HERE IS THE PAGE FROM OUR FIELD GUIDE

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Here are a few videos of baby Softshells!

A BABY SOFTSHELL & BABY PAINTED TURTLE

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BABY SOFTSHELL TURTLE – UP CLOSE

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A BABY SOFTSHELL FLIPS OVER

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UPVOTE-FOLLOW-RESTEEM

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IN CASE YOU MISSED THE PREVIOUS POSTS IN THIS SERIES:

• INTRODUCTION

• SNAPPING TURTLE

• AMERICAN TOAD

• GREY TREE FROG

• RED-BACKED SALAMADER

• GARTER SNAKE

• FIVE LINED SKINK

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Stay tuned for the Prairie Skink next!