No, not a Crocodile or alligator and definitely not a fish. but what do you think this is?
Cry for this world, as our turtle populations are endangered and becoming extinct!
I had to go and do some research to verify what I was told about this animal and I was really surprised with my findings.
But let me not give the game away here, as I first want to show you the mountain dam where I took the photos!
Come and have a look!
Here you can see the dam and it is ideally placed on a high foothill of the mountain!
What? A Snapper Turtle (Chelydra serpentina) in a dam right here in South Africa?
There were two of them and I decided to focus on the one that was coming my way!
Leisurely this guy cruised along and he must have seen me at a distance!
He was slowly approaching and stopped at my left hand side!
But it was the other one that surprised me, as it came ever closer, almost directly at me!
And finally, it decided to have a look at me!
Some more views of the dam and its surrounds!
This is the mountain range at the east (back end) of the dam!
Photos are a bit dark as it was very cloudy!
Here you can see the same mountain range running south towards the ocean!
Finally, this is where the mountain range ends in the sea!
Now you can only shake your head in alarm reading this below!
"Alarmingly, seven species of turtles have gone extinct in recent history, and of the remaining 360 species, more than half are imperiled, according to the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and ongoing assessment work".
"While turtles have evolved to keep a few steps ahead of the extinction risks posed by predators, severe weather and disease for 225 million years, humans have proven to be their most profound threat".
"Humans have altered, destroyed and polluted tortoise and freshwater turtle habitat and spread diseases that threaten its populations. Even more directly, people have demolished tortoise and turtle populations by collecting them for food, pets and/or medicinal use–both legally and illegally".
Source
Yes, it was our first time to see them and I wonder for how long they will last. Once all of the turtles are gone, our fresh water will become poison to drink, as there will be no turtles to keep the water clean and healthy.
And That's All Friends!
Note: All photos are my own and taken with a Canon Powershot SX60HS camera.
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What a cover image! And the reflection in that third to last one.
Good morning @papillioncharity.
Good morning @dandays,
Thank you and it was indeed a rare and pleasant surprise to get the turtles on camera.
I think that someone must have bought them as pets, got tired of them and released them into the dam, as snapper turtles are not endemic to South Africa.
Glead that you liked the post!
I love your photos. You are now my favorite photographer!
Oh! What an honor and thank you!
Now the thing is what can I call you?
Oh yes, I know, you are now my favorite silver collector!
Somehow it doesn't sound too great and I willl have to think of something more favorable.
Hahaha.... 🥰🌺🤙
!ENGAGE
ENGAGEtokens.I love the first photo where the turtle looks at you 😃 The photo is very sharp and the turtle looks very serious - it doesn't smile a bit, although you were taking a photo 😉
The reflections look cool, Zac, as I have told you already 😊
Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote
Hi Hannes, I don't know what happened to my reply in ecency as it refused and said "missing posting authority". I mention this, as it might happen to you.
Yes, that guy was not a friendly model and he was sizing me to see what piece of my body he could bite 🤣
But yesterday I had a smiling model that played a game of hide and seek with me!
Look how this guy smiled at me!
Cheers and thanks!
A few days ago Ecency didn't show me any comments, so I used the Engage app. Ecency works fine at the moment, but thank you for the information.
I am always impressed when I see how colorful your animals are. This grasshopper looks amazing and you're right, it looks as if he's smiling 😁
Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote
Yes, I am replying here in Ecency this morning my friend.
Thank you and that locust is hated by the farmers my friend.
They breed in the millions and destroy many farm lands.
But he is indeed a beauty 😁
Cheers and thanks!
Today I am having the same problem as you had, but Ecency works fine on my phone 😄
Many beautiful things are dangerous 😉
Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote
Ecency seems to behave well here now with the replies Hannes.
I hope that it's the same at your end.
Oh yeah and I am glad that know that, as too many of the unspeakable persons could be equally dangerous. I am sure that this was what you hinted on 🤣
Cheers and thanks!
Yes, it is working fine here too today 😄
You were sure and you were right, I meant also the already forgotten unspeakable persons 🤣
Cheers and !BEER
!invest_vote
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BEER.Regrettable the loss of so many animal species by man, and the damage he does to nature. Good reflection and post, I loved all the photos that beauty. Thanks
Thank you and it is indeed regrettable to actuallly see the destruction wreaked by mankind.
Glad that you liked the post!
Blessings!
Nice shots...
Thank you...!
We appreciate your work and your post has been manually curated by @nelinoeva on behalf of Amazing Nature Community. Keep up the good work!
A kind thank you for the support @hive-127788 and @nelinoeva
Gorgeous eyes and little button nose, no I have never seen them in the wild, great photography and interesting facts collated, little miracles in nature surviving Stephen.
Amazing and thank you Lady Joan.
4 little boys came past and the one shouted "uncle, come and see there's a baby", but when I got there the baby had disappeared.
So, I will go back there to get that baby lol.
Blessings and have a nice Friday!
A lovely find in beautiful surroundings would draw one back to watch progress in the dam.
Exactly Lady Joan, but there's so much going on here now that the babies all get born, that I got 3 predators on camera today.
Our internet signal is thankfully back again and now I sit with a mountain of replies!
Blessings!
It saddens me so to think of any species going extinct but especially the turtle for I've been enamored with them from my youth.
Cool that they came so close to you! I could just imagine you waiting patiently and still to allow this to happen.
Thank-you for sharing!
Yes, I was transfixed by their slow and graceful movements in the water and they are gracious swimmers my friend. As still as the rocks around me I stood, to allow them to come and inspect this human rock hahaha.
My pleasure to share and may you guys have a good Friday!
Great pics, it's always a thrill when we are enjoying the outdoors and something decides to make its presence known.
Thank you and I do agree with you, as I also love to see the unexpected in nature.
I was again lucky today to get three raptors on camera, A falcon, kite and a hawk.
Cheers and !BEER
I have seen both a falcon and a hawk, but never a kite.
I took a few minutes to look at some pics of the kite, what a gorgeous bird. While reading a little about them, the article said that there are five different types of kits. I wonder which one you saw.
Nothing like the great outdoors!
Thank you and unfortunately all of my Kite pictures are on my old PC.
What I will do is that I will get them and show you a Dark shouldered kite with a big rat in his mouth.
This is the Dark-shoulderd Kite that I took yesterday!
What a beautiful bird. They are named kites because of the way they catch the air currents and glide along as they search for prey, just like a kit, makes sense to me. Hawks are some of the coolest birds to run across!
We have a few Red-tailed hawks in the area, and I'll spot them every once in a while. When the hayfields have been cut, you will see them gliding over the newly cut fields looking for prey. They are marvelous birds that seem to fly with very little effort.
Yes the kites are indeed beautiful my friend.
Another difference between kites and hawks and falcons is that Kites can hover.
Hover means that they can stand still in the air like the photo of the hovering kite that I sent you.
Unfortunately we don't have Red-tailed hawks in Africa. But I will have a look.
In today's post I show you the famous Lanner Falcon on the hunt!
There are only a few birds that I have seen that can literally stay in one spot as they search for food, the hummingbird and seagull. Here's a funny picture we captured while in Florida last year of a bunch of seagulls hovering.
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