Oh... no!!

I did a little work in my classroom yesterday, and I finally made it back to the house around 5:00. As I was pulling into our driveway, I seen this creature. At first, I thought "Oh.. no! I hope he doesn't get in the road!" but then I saw his tail.  My thoughts quickly switched to "SHOULD I RUN OVER HIM?!"  I'm not sure that I've ever personally seen a snapping turtle. I remember one time Maggie Boulware had a baby turtle that had orange spots on his tummy. She couldn't figure out what it was and I "googled" (chuckle) around trying to help her find the answer. During all this googling (hehe), I came across a picture of a snapping turtle. Those claws were embedded into my memory, and I decided from that day that I never wanted to see one... ever! Plus, I bet his  jaw could do just as much damage to someone's toe as a lawn mower (Be careful Mal!). So before you start thinking this girl is cruel thinking about running this thing over... know that I was thinking safety first! I'm all against animal cruelty, but I don't like the next thing to a dinosaur crawling around the same yard that sweet little Chip prances around. You'll be proud to know that I didn't run over him. He's safe (for now)! I did what any other mid-twenty year old (dang... I'm getting old!) girl would do... "DADDY!!!!!" I didn't even get a hello out of my mouth when I walked through the door. I crammed Dad and little brother into the Maxima (new classroom decor + new home= messy Maxima), and crept down the dirt road to where I spotted the little intruder. And NO, there was no way that I was walking to find him, and with a tail like that... neither should you (triple negatives in one sentence + being a teacher= bitter sweetness). I found him, and Daddy confirmed that he was indeed a snapping turtle (BAM: 5 points for me), but that he was a small one (WHATEV!). Daddy pulled him around by his tail and made him snap at his tennis shoe... and I screamed bloody murder. You know those things won't let go until it thunders, and the afternoon storm had already passed through. So after I was on the verge of freaking out crying, Daddy finally got back in the car. We left the little dinosaur alone to live and breed in our fields. Don't worry Chipper, we'll be in the city soon enough... (kinda, anyways)...