The thing on the trail

[Actor]

It's on the right just past the second log. What is it?

Theodore Roosevelt National Park, July 2008.

 

[dak1b]

iono zoom in

 

[thebeatles]

turtle idk

 

[ghaith.salih]

Pretty


Unit colors Missing

 

[CWN]

I'd say a turtle as well.

 

[NateWagner]

yeah, it looks like a turtle to me as well.

 

[rocdoc]

First choice turtle, second choice armadillo (not quite the right environment). Third choice alien life form. Are we going to get the answer?

 

[Jankster]

turtle....? my first thought.

 

[Actor]

First choice turtle, second choice armadillo (not quite the right environment). Third choice alien life form. Are we going to get the answer?

I'm not absolutely certain I know the answer.

I've shown this picture to a lot of people. Turtle seems to be the most popular answer. The second most popular answer is animal dung.

My own answer is rattlesnake. I got as close as I dared, zoomed in as much as I could, took the shot and retreated. No one I've shown it to has thought it was a snake.

 

[rocdoc]

Oh, you mean a coiled up snake. I see how that could be. But there is not enough detail. Next time, grow a pair and get closer! After all, losing your life for a good photo is part of your duty as a photographer...

 

[CWN]

Oh come on now, snakes can only strike half the distance of their body length - so even some of the biggest ones you can get within 10 feet

If that is a snake, there's a chance you walked right by others that were much closer that you didn't even see

 

[Actor]

Oh, you mean a coiled up snake. I see how that could be. But there is not enough detail. Next time, grow a pair and get closer! After all, losing your life for a good photo is part of your duty as a photographer...

Dying by rattlesnake bite is a fate I would not wish upon my worst enemy. The flesh falls off your bones, your nervous system goes into hyper drive and they have to tie you down. Anti-venom spoils so quickly that the anti-venom they treat you with probably is manufactured after you get bitten, has to be flown in and you probably won't get any for 24 hours.

If that is a snake, there's a chance you walked right by others that were much closer that you didn't even see

A thought that was with me every step back to the trail head. We tried to keep to the middle of the path.

There was a big sign at the trail head that said "Rattlesnakes in area" so I was probably predisposed to think it was a snake. Then again, I had a 3-D view. :greenpbl:

 

[RancerDS]

Yeah, turtle or snake, since I'm pretty sure beavers don't shed their tails. I would have watched or even crept forward... maybe to toss a pebble near to it for a reaction. But like someone said, where there is one rattlesnake, there the possibility of more. Especially if that one is the momma.

And while getting sick/dying by rattlesnake bite is painful, a lot of adults survive it. While I used to snake hunt some in my college years, feared the small and lethal copperhead much more.

 

[davev2]

I'm thinking snake.
Looks like it was heading out into the open, but you came along and scared it back into the brush.

This is a shot of one we saw in Bosque a year and a half ago.
It was about a 5 footer, and didn't like being photographed.
I had on a 18-200mm lens, and was far enough back that I was in no danger.

 

[pugnacious33]

Looks like a rock or a root. Not a turtle or a snake. I don't understand why you couldn't get close enough to see. Did you turn around and quit the hike because of that?