Actually, Dick, the water is so low…

How low is it?! It is so low that this turtle was beached!! Actually, the water is lower this year in spite of the 1.06 inches of rain we got the last 4 days. The rain, though it seemed to pour at times, left merely a trace of rise on the lake level. The rain helps the ground water table, but the lake will only reflect a marginal rise until a significant rise of the table; more rain and lots of snow needed. It’s all about saturation.

The turtle, you ask? Shirley was raking the shoreline and ran across this odd fellow, probably on its way to hibernate. She noticed a peculiarity about it, as its face was deformed. Grabbing her camera, she returned to photograph it when it hissed at her! Upon further curiosity, she noticed the face was partially gone, including the eye, nose and mouth. She heard it hiss and thought it hissed with a lisp! Histh, histh! Kidding–it did hiss, though! It must have been in a battle, perhaps with a snapper or something with a long snout (an armadillo?!). Anyway, here are a couple shots of the unfortunate painted turtle (Note that the face seems healed-over).

By the way, the colors are just beginning this fall. Some say the leaves might not be as bright due to the dry season, and/or may fall quickly. Shirley will be capturing the colors on camera as they develop. Rog

(The tortoise and the hare–lip!)