When i was yonger i trapped coon in michigan for furs and food the first coon i trapped was a 42 lb female after 1/2 a mile dragging her out i thought i was deer hunting 

This fellow walked past the shop today.

 

Glenn,

Let me guess.

I think that it is a turtle.

Am I right?

If it is.  What kind of turtle is it?

Regards,

SLAG

We know them as a Box Turtle.

They have a 2 piece hinged bottom plate and the top shell. They bring all 4 legs and the tail inside the shell and close the bottom plates for protection. They grow to about the size of a soft ball when mature.

Glenn,

Box turtles make good pets for a knowledgeable pet owner.

Your visitor is a female.

Regards,

SLAG.

How did you figure that out? She was not wearing lipstick that I noticed. Must have been the sweet face. LOL

Glenn,

Look at the underside of your  "pet".  The lower shell  (plastron)  is relatively flat.   Male turtles'  plastrons are concave. That helps the male mount a female, while mating.

Yah,  turtles do it too.

The female's upper shell is higher and more domed  giving her more room for developing more eggs.

You can confirm the sex  if you come across the lady again.  (I cant tell from your picture).

Check the eyes.  Male box turtles have red or orange irises.  Female box turtles have brown or yellow irises.

Box turtle have a central posterior notch which his tail while mounting the female. (crushed tails are not pleasant).

There you have it,  

SLAG.

 

Knew that the male turtles'  plastrons are concave. Did not know about the eye color. The things you learn on this site LOL  Thanks  

Another visitor from earlier this summer. 

Box turtles are so common at our place, our new puppy has given up trying to herd them.

Okay, I can see how a crazed 50 lb. coon could take a person right off his/er feet. I knew they were very smart, good problem solvers and dangerous. No wild ones in Alaska and probably no pet anymore either. 

I never cease to be amazed at what I learn on IFI but am no longer surprised. ESPECIALLY when Slag chips in. I haven't seen a wild box turtle in probably 50 years. That one didn't charge me fortunately but it was a close thing. 

Frosty The Lucky.

Look at my profile pic.  That one darted out in front of me while hiking.  

Jer,

Methinks, your post is  a touch ambiguous.

But that just may be me. I did not get enough sleep last night.  (a.k.a.  "beauty sleep").  AW, who am I kidding.

Even sleep does not do a great job these days.

Did an enraged attack box turtle or a deranged raccoon attempt to attack you?

Evidently you made it unscathed.

Regards to you,  Deb, all the critters, 

and,  also,  all the denizens on I.F.I.

SLAG.

Not in the shop per se; but when we were loading the anvil stand last night, (it's a large mining timber with a pronounced crack in it), after the smithing demo at my Church's "Country Fair" ; a small lizard exited the crack in the stand and surprised the fellow helping me.- He's a new smith stationed at Fort Bliss; he's from the NE of the USA and the lizard population is low up that way.  I guess he was lucky it wasn't a scorpion...

He works on movable anvils, tanks, though he may not have thought of them in that way before working at my forge yesterday...

Since becoming a member here, I have often thought how cool it would be to visit some of you guys at your shops, hang out, learn some of the trade, make something interesting. But after reading this thread...forget it. However, some  of you guys are welcome to visit me any time. The Winters have a fascinating way of keeping the rifraff out of our part of the country.

I under stand---why last night I ended up getting out of bed and closing the window!  I may even light the furnace before December!  (My wife is visiting and complains...)

Just so you don't miss the Ozarks Thomas. Yesterday morning 0600 hrs it was 30° F and raining, the temp was falling rain turned to freezing rain, sleet then snow. Temp wound up to 18°F this morning with 5-10mph breeze. It's a lovely day in the Ozarks. At least the ground was warm enough the roads were OK.

On the other hand some days are best spent indoors by the fire drinking adulterated hot cocoa--and terrible if you have to go out and work in them!

Not truly in my shop, have a few whitetail does that forage in the raspberry plot that is next to it. Did have a herd of turkeys that would hang around the same area but haven't seen them the last couple years since the coyote population picked up.

Slag spider. Almost hit him with the wire wheel, but he made it out alive

The wire wheel would have given him a hurry up. Good camouflage!

We just got rid of the 3 raccoons living in our shop, the only animals there now are a couple strange humans ha

I came back from lunch a few years ago to find this snake up on my table. I guess the aluminum was just the right temperature

Looks like a nice little northern black racer. They can grow up to about seven feet in length.

Nice snake, and a good mouser. 

Don't understand this social media stuff, but found these little beggars happily "TWEETING"  from my workshop website.