This sucker is Chelydra serpentina. Since no one has yet to blog about him, I will take that chance. Snapping turtles are not social creatures and are vicious when out of their element (like when Morgan is holding it by its shell on its side). They tend to snap their sharp beaks and can reach a fair distance to the side... Further than one may think at first.
However, they are docile when back in water. Snapping turtles like to be in brackish, muddy water where they can dig in and ambush their prey. They are not an endangered species, but are occasionally run over by cars while searching for new nesting sites.
This one was found in a turtle trap set up by Andrew Tucker and Michelle Boone in the pond just outside Formal Gardens in Oxford, OH.
-BL
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