My backyard is a natural haven for woods frogs and grey tree frogs, and the other night I encountered this little guy on my back path that I thought you folks might enjoy. Pretty sure he was a tree frog, but he was so tiny and I didn't wanna touch him to look.
Gar was hanging out with my housemate and I while one of my best friends was over visiting, and he was being such a companionable little dude - and tonight for the first time, he did the butt scratch dance!
Gar is getting so long, wide, thick bodied, and strong, (I wear a women's US size 7 shoe, that's my foot for scale in the second photo,) but he's still every bit the gentle yet stubborn baby he's been since day one. That being said, he loves his outdoor time, demands being lifted and taken out, loves being held... But those claws, y'all. My hand is always getting scratched and poked inadvertently by his talons, and I'm not sure what the best solution is for either wearing them down, trimming them (kinda hesitant to do that because I'm not sure how he'd feel about that since, y'know, snapping turtle,) or what? Any suggestions?
Gar and I were hanging out in the backyard today, me with a parasol and him catching rays. He napped for a while, absorbing all that good UV, and I spritzed cool water on his back a couple of times to keep his temp regulated. He's such a little guy still, that it could be very easy for him to overheat. Anyway, after maybe around an hour, he woke up and locked eyes with me, and then immediately marched towards me, rapidly closing the short distance of about 2 ft that was between us. I wasn't sure what he was up to, so I just sat still, observing him, and before I knew it he was shoving his body underneath my calves, only stopping once he got into the grassy space between my crisscross-applesauced legs, eventually settling to rest with his head on my inner thigh and falling back asleep within minutes.
I sat still for as long as I was able, despite my legs going all pins and needles and my backside going from sore, to numb, and back around to sore again. Eventually, despite how cute he was and how comfy he was in his snooze, I absolutely had to get up and put him back into his tank in order up get some things accomplished, and I'm still feeling guilty - he seemed so surprised and upset when I picked him up, as though he were saying "but... Wait! Why? I wasn't doing anything naughty; WTF?!" I'm gonna take him back out later, if he asks, though, so I'm trying not to feel too guilty.😅🐢💚
Gar is starting to look like a sturdy, strong fella! It's hard to believe that this is the same feeble, dessicated, and nearly deceased hatchling that came into my life almost three years ago. I love him so much, and is going to be so thankful that he bonded with me the way that he did. I never expected to become a snapper keeper, I've only ever been their temporary handler while getting across a road or patching up an injury or something, helping some hatchlings find some water for themselves, that kind of thing. So for him to just be like... Nope, I live with you, that's just the way it is, I really feel blessed and chosen, a very unusual Disney princess😅🐢💖
The lighting above his enclosure is bright so it washes out his face coloring, but for real, I love the color contrast between his dark shell and top half, and the starkly pale green-tinted cream color of his bottom half. As a Taoist, it reminds me a lot of our symbol, the yin/yang, and I can't help but smile whenever I look at one of his legs and notice the crisp line where his two color schemes meet.☯️🐢
We like to sit outside not far from my backyard peach tree, and this time of year, these little almond-sized baby peaches fall off the tree like occasional, solo hailstones. Gar has decided that they remind him a lot of his freeze-dried chicken hearts, and has chosen to treat them accordingly. Homie, we all know you can't swallow out of water!
I was gone for nearly a week out in Vermont, as my daughter was giving birth to her very first baby, and I went up there to stay to babysit their dog while they were in hospital, welcome them home, and be a pair of helping hands for the first few days. My housemates watched Gar for me, and when I got back last night, it was clear he was happy I came home.
As soon as I came into the room, he damn near launched himself out the surface of his water trying to climb out to get to me, and even after I held him a few times and played with him a little, afterwards when I put him back in his tank he still kept trying to get back out and into my lap, to the point where he refused to even eat the food I put in for him and had to fish it out so it wouldn't just float there all night.
Woke up this morning and not long after I turned his lights back on for the day, he woke up from his sleep and started doing his attention dance again. This time, I gave him exactly what he wanted - I scooped him up, grabbed my book, and brought him outside.
He immediately walked about two and a half, 3 ft in front of me just out of the range of the shade and plopped down in the sun, and has been relaxing and blinking at me quite happily for the last 20 minutes just looking around and taking in the breeze and all the various sights to see.
I had a wonderful time meeting my granddaughter and getting to take an extended visit with my daughter and her partner, but goodness this little guy also reminds me why it's great to come home!
Gar is growing up to be such a brave, confident, relaxed but still stubborn little dude. He's been feeling adventurous enough to go about 6 ft away from me, 7 ft at most, lay down and relax and watch the world beyond the trees at least as far into the long distance as he can see, and then turn around and slowly make his way back towards me again, stopping to relax and do a little up Periscope action every so often here and there...
And of course, he will often try to make his way over to the Forbidden trailers if he thinks I'm going to let him get away with it. Which I never do, but it doesn't stop him from making the attempt, one of which I have thwarted just now as I'm dictating this. He's currently sitting on one of the flat wooden scrap planks I have under my scare squirrel beneath my peach tree, Periscope head looking from side to side and blinking at me dourly for being such a spoil sport. And now he's wandered over to rest between my feet before once again heading back at a vague angle towards the trailers but in such a way where it would look to the unfrained eye that he's trying for something else but I know what he's up to. He's going to start heading for the foundation of the house and then try to skirt around the corner instead of heading for the tire directly and yep... There he goes now. Caught at the corner once more, and once again I'm going to tuck him into the makeshift little cave that I made him out here of a large old pot that I turned over onto its side, so I can show him that some things are okay but the trailers are yes, Forbidden.
And now he's staring at me from his new front porch, just outside of the pot looking up at me with head fully outstretched like ma'am, what do you want me to do with this?
Look at how nice and high he can get his belly off the ground while walking these days! He is getting so strong and he loves the yard so much!
I mean, not entirely. I have been known to watch some absolute true garbage trash, which is no shock to anyone in the house because I'm basically something loosely adjacent to a cryptid. But right now he's got 8 hours of a kelp forest to enjoy, after having had a lovely hour or so to walk and explore, and two entire freeze-dried chicken hearts for a nice big meal today. No wonder why he's getting to be so wide and strong!
Here's a rough cut of about 7 minutes of what it's like to be the full-time unpaid staff of a very imperious baby snapper. If anyone's wondering, for reference for size, I wear a women's size 7 to 7 and 1/2 narrow shoe on the left, a size 7 and 1/2 to an eight regular on the right, and if anyone is curious what I put on the TV for him, it's an 8-hour bit of footage of an underwater kelp forest. His Highness is pleased. 😂
It's a cool and overcast day, and I've been doing some yard work. Decided to take a break and bring the water puppy out to catch some air and get some exercise: