Ok, so maybe not so scary, unless you get up real close, but I found this wandering around in my driveway this morning.
Auugh! It’s a teeny tiny lobster! But it’s really a crayfish. Most crayfish species breed this time of year, so I’m assuming this little beauty is a male off looking for love. I live on a weedy pond, so I’m that’guessings where he came from. He’s not as scary as this lady…
Notice I didn’t get close enough to put a ruler down? That’s because she is the size of small laundry basket, and I’m assuming she’d as soon bite a ruler in half as look at it. We get visited by these monster snapping turtles every spring, although I can’t imagine how they reproduce. These poor ladies lay their eggs one day and by the next morning, skunks have dug up and eaten all the eggs. Now that’s scary!
Digging RI 
I found one of those little crayfish thingies in my driveway 2 years ago and was utterly mystified. My husband speculated that it had been dropped by a passing seagull, but now I’m guessing it wandered away from a brook that runs nearby. Recent years have been way too dry for them, I suspect.
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Nice to know there are still wild things around, though.
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Those snapping turtles lay a lot of eggs! Years ago we had a pile of builder’s sand delivered for some cement work. My three young boys found it enticing to play in with their Tonka trunks, and one day came running in to tell me of the eggs they had found. As soon as I saw them, I knew they were turtle eggs (at least 3 dozen of them); they have that rubbery quality. Students from URI came and picked them up for research purposes. I learned long ago not to pick the hatchlings or the adults up even to save them from the road. (I used to carry a small shovel in my car for that purpose.) They can stretch their necks right over their shells and give you a nasty bite!
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I tried to save a really big one a few years ago. It was crossing the road and would have been run over for sure. I realized, though that I was risking a huge bite, so I just stood there helplessly, trying to warn the cars away. Luckily, a kind construction worker stopped and with his gloved hand, picked up the turtle by its tail and quickly took it across to the other side. The entire time it was being transported, that turtle was writhing and stretching and trying to bite him!
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i can’t imagine they ever get to hatch on my property. inevitably, the day after i see a turtle laying her eggs, i see a big hole and lots and lots of empty eggshells. it’s very sad.
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Thank you, now I understand why you call them snapping turtles. Our tortoises are better behaved ;>)
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The crayfish, not so scary. I used to catch them as a kid, but the snapping turtle, I would stay away from that one. For sure.
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oh, i dunno… i found one about 5 years ago in my vegetable garden, and the little bugger reared up on its back legs and started snapping its claws at me, as if to say “don’t come any closer! i’ll pinch you to death!!!” it was quite intimidating.
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