Monday, April 27, 2009

Battling or Mating...?





I went kayaking on the Sabattus River yesterday and I encountered this pair. They were so involved with each other they let me paddle right up to them. At first I thought it was a pair mating but when I got home and looked at the photos one of them had quite a few wounds on it, including its eye gouged out. In the first picture you can make out the cuts on the neck, I actually have a close up of the gouged out eye but didn't post it. The third photo shows the impressive claws and it's easy to see how an eye would get gouged.

16 comments:

The Birdlady said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
The Birdlady said...

Ouch! Must all creatures fight?!!
Very interesting. Hope it warms up soon - am anxious to see flowers on your blog.

DeniseinVA said...

That must have been quite a sight. Impressive photographs.

Tom Arbour said...

John, these are incredible photos. I've never seen any images of snapping turtles depicting this behavior. I would put money on it that they were mating.

Anonymous said...

Yes, indeed, these are incredible photos. I hope to see some things like this if I can get outside this summer.

Mary said...

Wow...if that is mating, I'd hate to see fighting! Thank you for not showing the gouged out eye! That last shot of the claws...wow. Incredible shots!

Anonymous said...

Wow, usually I see turtles hanging out with each other. Perhaps snappers are a little more territorial?

MaineBirder said...

Awesome shots John! I would not want to be in a brawl with one of those.

Debbie Hartmann said...

What an interesting situation to come across! Thanks for posting these... fun to see.

EcoRover said...

Whoah! I've known snappers all my life and had no idea they fought like that. I did some searching and found this too: http://www.flickr.com/photos/robanhk/2676338654/in/photostream/ .

This is part of what I love about reading nature blogs--the chance to learn things you'd need to live 5 lifetimes to figure out.

Unknown said...

WOW...amazing wildlife action captured here. Thanks for sharing these.

Anonymous said...

The not so pleasant side of wildlife an nature John.

Eve said...

No one should mess with a snapper John...not even another snapper!!!

2sweetnsaxy said...

Again, amazing shots. The clarity and detail is wonderful. You really got some great shots out kayaking.

Wondering... do you have a waterproof camera?

Stacey Olson said...

wow, and I have to ask, were they moving fast or was the fighting slow as well?

Anonymous said...

Its an amazing blog..
I just enjoyed a lot...
cheer..
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Jessica
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