Wildlife in the Woods

 

When we visited the woodlands and pond the other weekend, we called in to the Visitor Centre before we began our walk.   There we encountered some specimens of local wildlife - some more animated than others!  This poor stuffed thing is a Coyote - larger than a fox, smaller than a German Shepherd dog.  They do, apparently, frequent the park and woodlands but as their sense of smell enables them to detect the presence of a human from one mile away (and as they are shy) we don't ever expect to see one.

 

Very much alive and in a tank, jostling for space under a heat lamp, these painted turtles are relatively common in the lakes and ponds and we have seen them in the wild.

 

These rather larger Snapper turtles are also fairly common in lakes and ponds - we have seen them occasionally at Meadowlark.  More precisely we have seen their noses poking out of the water - as below!

 

This American Bull Frog has to be one of the largest frogs I have ever seen..

 

And of course the inevitable reptiles (you may want to look away now..)

 

Copperheads are mercifully shy and rare..

 

This rather large black snake is very similar to one that crossed our path at Great Falls last spring.  Thankfully he was also shy and slithered off into the undergrowth.