Loch Ashbaugh Monster Sighted!
A couple of weeks ago I had about 45 minutes to “waste” before I had to lead a walking tour of historic downtown Littleton, Colorado. I quickly made my way to nearby Sterne Park but found nothing of interest. Now with only a half-hour left I debated whether to just get to my tour early or try one more local pond where I had been spotting a pair of Snowy Egrets. Here’s an image I had taken a couple days before of the pair in the last light of the day.
Indeed, Ashbaugh Pond, that local pond on the way to downtown, didn’t fail me that day as the pair were there again. I no sooner lifted my lens, though, when one of them started furiously “croaking”, a typical sound of distress for them. It was staring intently into the water and indeed something moving in the water caught my eye, too. I took the photo below and was stunned to see this on the back of my camera.
This looked either like a local version of the Loch Ness Monster or the tail of an alligator, neither of which would be common here – or ever seen for that matter. So, I kept clicking away and got some more interesting shots like below.
What was this?? I eventually surmised it was a turtle – make that a giant turtle – wait, make that TWO giant turtles – and wait, some more, make that two giant turtles mating!
By now, neighbors of the pond and hikers on the trail next to it had joined me in awe of this sight. I’ve been visiting this pond for many years and have never seen anything like this. Sure, turtles (and these are called Common Snapping Turtles) are common in our lakes and ponds, but they tend to be about 8-12” long. These two were likely about 3 feet in length with their shells the diameter of a small tire!
Later, an official from the regional park system that oversees this pond responded to me that these turtles might be over 80 years old (they hardly look a day over 40 in my opinion). And apparently, they are rarely seen above the surface of the water as they bury themselves in the mud of the pond most of the time. He couldn’t get over the fact that they were both seen at the same time and indeed likely mating.
I had to cut the photo shoot short to get to my tour but what a stroke of luck. That 30 minutes to “waste” and photographs birds turned into maybe a once-in-a-lifetime chance to view view what I am now calling the mythical Loch Ashbaugh Monsters!
Oh, and the Egrets? They were fine. I returned a couple days later and got this shot of them “cuddling up” for the night.