Beats Posted August 22, 2007 Report Share Posted August 22, 2007 Was out fishing the Greenway Park area in London this afternoon and managed to catch 6 bass all near the train bridge over the river. All of the bass were quite small so I didn't bother to take any pics of them. On my way home I saw a very rare animal basking in the sun. It was by far the largest soft-shelled turtle I have ever seen. I've now seen 3 in my life. One at the lower dam of the Sydenham in Strathroy about 15 years ago and one at the lower Pittock Dam in Woodstock about 2 years ago. Both of these turtles had shells about the size of a CD, the one today was easily 4-5 times that. I didn't know they got this big. I took 2 pics of the turtle before it saw me and shot into the water. I was way up on some sort of concrete breakwall off the beaten path. The 2 other baby turtles appear to be snappers to me. Odd shaped shells on them. Unfortunately the pics aren't too detailed since I was so far from the turtles. I'll be going back soon to see if it frequents that spot for basking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fatherof3 Posted August 22, 2007 Report Share Posted August 22, 2007 great wildlife shots Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BrownTown Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 you must live near me, that train bridge is my backyard! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redx Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 if you want to see more soft shell turtle you should goto the Fanshaw dam, at the east side of the London. I remember seeing alot there when I lived in London. Spiked soft shell? not sure of the name but other endangered type of soft shell turtle can be found there too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Headhunter Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 Yup, just a bit down stream from the train bridge is a small feeder creek that is used to control the water levels of the coves. Since I was a boy, that creek has held soft shell turtles, painted turtles as well as some massive snappers! Nice pics, thanks for posting! HH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJL Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 Really cool pics! I don't think I have ever seen one of those in the wild before. The only one I ever saw was at Big Al's in their goldfish pond years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Pike Posted August 23, 2007 Report Share Posted August 23, 2007 Cool pics and a great find there, Beats. I've never seen one yet myself. I know the Softshell Turtle is listed as 'threatened' in the Grand River Watershed because it's losing a lot of its habitat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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