This page is a work in progress. I will update pictures and descriptions as I research each bird, animal, plant and anything else I can find that I feel may be of interest. Please keep checking back.

The prehistoric-looking Alligator Snapping Turtle is the largest freshwater turtle in North America and among the largest in the world. With its spiked shell, beak-like jaws, and thick, scaled tail, this species is often referred to as the "dinosaur of the turtle world."

The alligator snapper employs a unique natural lure in its hunting technique. Its tongue sports a bright-red, worm-shaped piece of flesh that, when displayed by a motionless turtle on a river bottom, draws curious fish or frogs close enough to be snatched.

Diet: Carnivore........yes, really!

Above left: A green tree frog, found mostly in the eastern third of the state, it is usually bright green, but it's colors change depending on the season, from yellow during breeding to dark grey when in cold weather. Normal habitat is around wet areas, they live on vegetation and insects.

Middle: A cicada (we always called them locusts when I was growing up) shedding its shell. Cicada females lay their eggs deep within the branches of trees. In China, the shell is used in traditional medicines and they are eaten in China, Malaysia, Burma, Latin American and the Congo. Ewwww!

Above right: A male luna moth. It is usually found in forested areas in southern Canada, and in every eastern state in the U.S. from Maine to Florida and west to eastern Texas and eastern North Dakota. The luna moth looks like a bunch of leaves (the wings, antenna and tail) and the brown margin around the top of his wings, looks like a tree branch with little buds coming down from it.