Wildlife at Work

I found this small turtle in the brush while making my rounds at the river wells. I put him in the truck with me and let him enjoy some country music for a while. He must not have liked it because he kept trying to walk off the center console.....possibly to his death...for all he knew! Who could blame him? Generally all the turtles sit on logs or the banks of ponds and rivers to ensure a speedy getaway. It's a good defense against people like me who turtle nap them and force them listen to Toby Keith & Garth Brooks!

I found this snake near one of the springs near the refinery. Little does he know, the amount of arsenic found in that spring will more then likely send him to that big snake wrangler in the sky!

God Speed Little One......

Now this snake was a bit larger. I walked up on this this five foot Northen Water snake hanging out in a tree watching my co-worker Jeremy take samples of a spring. Apparently this snake is aware of the arsenic levels and decided to follow Darwins law and evolve into a Northern TREE snake! If you look in the upper left hand corner of the picture, you'll see him hanging out in the tree checking us out. I took the two pics below before I grabbed him. Unfortunately I couldn't pull him out of the branches and he gave me the slip.