Another Day. Another Snapper ...or is it?

This morning as I was heading down the lane and towards the city, I found this snapping turtle near one of the ponds at Roundtop. Another day, another snapper. Then I looked more closely at it, and I started to wonder. Could this be the same snapping turtle I saw several days ago out along the public road? It's possible, though I can't be sure. This snapper is certainly of a similar size as the first, and as the turtle might crawl, it's probably only 2-300 yards in distance away.

On the close-up view, the scales on the snapper's foot show up nicely, as do those impressive toenails!

In other news around the mountain, summer has arrived and settled in with all the grace of a bull in a china shop. Last week I was still wearing a sweatshirt, at least in the mornings. Yesterday it was 96 degrees, which is not quite a record. I looked up the record and found that in 1925 this week in June was a long stretch of 99 degree temperatures, which makes me very glad I wasn't around then to feel it. This is more than bad enough.

Fireflies made their first noticeable appearance over the weekend, perhaps a bit later than usual because of all the rain I had just the week before.

The forest itself is also changing and moving deeper into the hot season. The bright green leaves of early spring are deepening towards the rich shade of mid-summer. The change is not yet complete, but that first burst of bright, eye-popping green has already passed.

I must say that I wasn't out and about as I usually am over a weekend. Dog, Baby Dog and I spent much of the time trying to catch a breeze that was more of a hope than an actuality.