an Uninvited Guest in our Backyard

Emily found this huge snapping turtle out in the backyard this afternoon. We called all over to see if someone could come and relocate it for us, but couldn't get ahold of anyone. Rich finally called a pest control guy we found on the DNR website, and he said that he could come and remove it for a fee, or we could wait and it would probably be gone tomorrow. We put the basket over it so it couldn't get close enough to the fence for neighbor kids to stick their fingers through, and so the dog would stop harassing it. We were going to take the basket off tonight, when the kids would be less likely to be out.

A few neighbors who are hunters/fishermen came by and chatted with Rich over the back fence - they ended up taking it away for us. The man who came in the yard to get it told Rich it was worth at least $60 for the meat, so I am guessing that they are not practicing catch and release! They said that they hadn't seen one that big in years. (You can see how big it is next to an old basketball, and under the laundry basket!) We have no idea how it got in the fenced backyard!