“Look, there’s a bullfrog underneath the van,” my husband announced after assisting his father into his wheel-chair accessible van.

I looked a little closer and noticed a tail extending from this “bullfrog.”

“I don’t think that’s a frog. I think it’s a baby snapping turtle!” I challenged.

“It kinda stinks,” Jeff added as he lifted the turtle from the ground just before his parents started backing out of our driveway.

I was right. It was a turtle.

“Oh, isn’t that cute?” I exclaimed as Jeff showcased the little creature for his mom to see as she sat behind the wheel, preparing to drive her disabled husband home.

“Wait a minute. Let me see that turtle. I’m gonna show it to Eddie,” I exclaimed, grabbing the turtle and extended it toward the back of the van where my father-in-law was seated. He grinned as I made a production of our “show-and-tell.”

I chuckled at the little creature’s stubby legs, marveling how quickly one of God’s pieces of handiwork can liven up the atmosphere.

“Hey Jeff, find a box or something so we can keep this turtle to show Kat (our youngest daughter) when she gets home!” I called to my husband as he went back into the house.

I studied the turtle a bit further, pondering why his eyes never opened and his legs never moved.

“He must be scared,” I assumed.

Jeff came back outside with a box and set it on the ground so we could make a temporary home for our new pet.

I reexamined little “Snapper,” contemplating the implications of the motionlessness stature of our reptilian midget. I mean, I know turtles are slow, but really!

Jeff took him from me and set him in the box. We watched for even a shred of evidence of life. Nothing. He then took him out of the box and placed him on the ground – a sure fire way to see if the little guy would wake up to his chance of escape. Again, nothing. The evidence demanded a verdict.

“Gross! Sick! Disgusting!” I started shrieking as I ran into the house to wash my hands of the residue of this baby corpse. And to think he was just so endearing moments before.

Note: The photos by Kareen King were taken of various Snapping Turtles, not of the poor little creature that didn’t make it!