Most reptiles and amphibians are beautiful to me, but some are a stretch. Snapping turtles (Chelydra serpentina), for example, caked in mud and furry algae, tiny piggy eyes and grotesquely long claws, can't quite qualify as pretty however long I stare at them.

But the baby ones are pretty darn cute. Here's one I trapped at a local marsh - the first of two, the second of which I dropped down my right hip boot, where it latched on tight with its claws and resisted extraction with all its might.


Of course the little guy/gal is terrified, but for a few minutes I gave it a good once-over and got my shot.

On the same trip I interrupted a beaver's lunch. I was paddling and couldn't get good photos off, but here's a shot of the beaver gathering vegetation:



Here is where it had been a moment before it got away: