Come here!

Each weekday at about 4:30pm, Hunky Husband appears at my door (I am in my den, reading) to announce that he is going up the street to fetch our mail. "Okay", I say. Today, he had barely gotten out the door to the garage, through which he normally traverses, when he came back inside to say, "Come here!" I quickly changed to my driving glasses, slipped into some slides, and went out to see what was happening. Below are photos of what I saw.

After I came back inside, a couple of the neighbors saw HH out there with the turtle, thought that the turtle was heading across the street to the pond, and decided that they did not wish to have such a large turtle in the pond. They talked HH into letting them load the turtle into our garden cart and took it back into our woods to let it loose near the creek.

I'm hoping that the neighbor did not injure the turtle when he scooped it up with a shovel to put it into the cart - or - when he dumped the turtle back out of the cart. I should have stayed outside a bit longer to supervise, I guess.

Someone who knows about such critters might be kind enough to identify the above turtle. My guess is that it is a common box turtle. If so, the more usual size that I've seen is shown in the photo, below, of Dudette with a box turtle in 1963

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ADDITION OF 4/21/2020 - Snapping Turtle

I think that Stu's suggestion of our reptile's being a snapping turtle has much merit - attested to by size and by the size/shape of its bottom shell. The photo, below is from Wikipedia.

Below is a closeup of our critter's head.

Comments

[Ole Phat Stu]

Big tail for a box turtle.
Could be a snapping turtle (I can't see the jaw)
or even an alligator terrapin?
Neither of which you'd want in your pond.

[Cop Car]

Stu--Please see the addition that I made to the posting.

[Stu]

jaw photo shows a snapper alright. dangerous beast, could cost you a toe.

[Joared]

We used to eat snapping turtles when we caught them while fishing for fish. When their heads are removed the reflex will continue to snap but not release so recall Pop buried them really deep so dog couldn’t dig up. He also said they were reported to have seven different kinds of meat. All of this was new to my mother and I.

[Liz Hinds]

A snapping turtle? they sound unfriendly.

[Cop Car]

Stu--I've always worried more about fingers. As a kid, I was taught how to pick snapping turtles up without being injured. This one was rather large, though.

Joared--I don't recall ever eating turtle of any kind. I think the only reptile that has found its way to my plate is alligator.

Liz--They can be, indeed, unfriendly if not treated with respect.

[bogie]

Definitely a snapper - they can grow to a huge size. That one is still at early middle age. I had one cross my yard a couple of years ago that was probably about the same size as the one you have pictured (https://bogieblog.typepad.com/happenings/2018/09/snapping-turtle-adventure.html ) and I remember we had one at my previous house that we had to relocate before we let the dogs out

[Cop Car]

Bogie--Thanks for the added info and for the link. Now that I see your posting, I recall it. Don't know what I was thinking that I didn't ID the turtle as a snapping turtle, myself. I was (originally) rushing to get the posting done before joining HH for our "happy hour" at 5:00pm, and didn't take enough time to recall what I should have known. I do recall thinking that the turtle needed its claws trimmed and that I was not about to do that.