For your enjoyment...the turtle hunting trip with some Germans on Spring Creek and the Chipola.
Here are the participants...from left to right.
Mario Herz, Markus Auer and Suzy Auer.
Markus and Mario have traveled the world studying turtles and both have published at least several authoritative books.
With me...
My favorite find of the trip. A gorgeous young female Mobile cooter, Pseudemys concinna 'mobilensis'. I caught her hiding under a tangle of branches in only a few feet of water.
Fraulein Auer doing a Forrest Gump impersonation...perfect!
Better shot. Photos simply do not convey the vibrant beauty of this animal.
Mobile cooters: swift swimmers, vegetarians and all class. Very cool turtles!
Carapace:
My next favorite. A juvenile Barbour's map turtle, Graptemys barbouri. Or as my German friends call them, "Grap-tee-meez barber-eee"
Here my boat-mate Mario holds it.
BTW, the German's never uttered the word canoe, it was always 'the boat'.
Closer, a young female.
This is a nice young female barbouri that Markus caught all by himself.
Notice the awesome looking leech on her plastron!
Mario at the front of our boat with the 'Pelican' Cypress tree behind him.
Believe it or not, these are my only photos of the trip. Most of the time I was in the water and would hand off any turtles I caught to Markus for photographing and release---or 'give away' as my German friends referred to releasing.
Here are the participants...from left to right.
Mario Herz, Markus Auer and Suzy Auer.
Markus and Mario have traveled the world studying turtles and both have published at least several authoritative books.
With me...
My favorite find of the trip. A gorgeous young female Mobile cooter, Pseudemys concinna 'mobilensis'. I caught her hiding under a tangle of branches in only a few feet of water.
Fraulein Auer doing a Forrest Gump impersonation...perfect!
Better shot. Photos simply do not convey the vibrant beauty of this animal.
Mobile cooters: swift swimmers, vegetarians and all class. Very cool turtles!
Carapace:
My next favorite. A juvenile Barbour's map turtle, Graptemys barbouri. Or as my German friends call them, "Grap-tee-meez barber-eee"
Here my boat-mate Mario holds it.
BTW, the German's never uttered the word canoe, it was always 'the boat'.
Closer, a young female.
This is a nice young female barbouri that Markus caught all by himself.
Notice the awesome looking leech on her plastron!
Mario at the front of our boat with the 'Pelican' Cypress tree behind him.
Believe it or not, these are my only photos of the trip. Most of the time I was in the water and would hand off any turtles I caught to Markus for photographing and release---or 'give away' as my German friends referred to releasing.