Loud and Annoying . . .
Lowell sent over these photos of his and Landon’s Saturday morning Starbuck’s coffee run. They usually head out early to let Mommy sleep in for a while. Of course Landon’s is Hot Chocolate, but he’s got the basics down.
When we talked to Brandi a little later, she said that he was still having fun with that loud and annoying toy. At first I thought she was talking about me (or maybe Nick), but it turns out she was talking about the walking, roaring dragon we got Landon a couple of weeks ago.
That’s a relief.
It was already misting when I got up at 10 (I went to bed at 3am, so no comments), and more was forecast for the rest of the day so I called a rain delay and will try again tomorrow.
A little before 4pm, Jan and I drove over to Lynette and Gregg McHenry’s site to pick them up for supper. And on our way out to the main highway we came across this turtle crossing the road. We actually drove over him as he was in the center of our lane. Jan wanted me to stop and help him across so he wouldn’t get run over.
But as we drove over him, I could tell this might be a problem. Because I could tell just from looking at the tail that this wasn’t a plain-jane ordinary turtle. Nope. This was a snapping turtle. Able to take your finger off with ease.
Here’s the guy on the roadway.
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A snapping turtle has a very thick, long tail. This shot from the internet shows it better.
They also have a bumpy shell with peaks on it.
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And here’s a blowup of his mouth.
So I stopped the truck, put the flashers on, and went back to the turtle. I had planned to just kind of boot him in the bottom and urge him all the way across the road.
But he was having none of it. When I approached him from behind, he turned to face me, hissing, as his neck lunged out and that sharp beak snapped away. As I circled him, he kept rotating to face me, not letting me get behind him.
And there was no way I was going to poke at him with my shoe from the front. I’ve seen what that beak can do to a pair of boots.
So finally I went back to the truck and got a 2’ x 2’ piece of 1/2 plywood, planning to use it to just push or shove him off the road in the direction he was trying to go. But that didn’t really work either.
First off he kept biting at the board, but not holding on long enough to drag him off. So then I tried to use the board to just push him off. But that didn’t work either. The pavement surface was rough enough and his long claws sharp enough that he would just latch onto the road and I couldn’t move him.
But the next idea did the trick. I used the edge of the board to carefully flip him over on his back. Repeating this several more times got him to the edge of the road and into the grass. Mission accomplished. But he still hissed at me.
In case anyone is wondering why I didn’t just pick him up from behind, that’s very hard to do safely with a snapping turtle. They have a very long neck that can whip around far back over their shell and all the way to their back legs. And I’d like my fingers to all stay right where they are.
Back on the road, we headed over to Vernon’s Kuntry Katfish, a place suggested by Lynette and Gregg. And a great suggestion it was.
Some of the best catfish I’ve had in a long time. Even better than the Sealand Seafood place that we ate at in LaGrange last week. And Sealand was really good.
And even better, they have hand-cut fries.
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Jan had the Blackened Sampler, with catfish, shrimp, and scallops. Also really good.
And to go with this, they had Fried Green Tomatoes, Hushpuppies, and Tomato Relish. YUMMM!
Tomorrow, with the weather forecast to be better, hopefully I’ll be back in the bin business.
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Thought for the Day:
Until you’ve lost your reputation, you never realize what a burden it was. – Margaret Mitchell
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