XXX-RATED

One of the facets of blogging I enjoy are the comments which are shared on each site. I often leave comments & observations on other blogs. I also read the comments posted on those blog sites. Interesting reading.

I [mostly] enjoy the comments I receive on my blog. A few have been critical or pithy. So be it. All true artists have our critics.

My friend Bubba left a comment attached to yesterday's post. Apparently he was a bit of a "voyeur" ... secretly watching a couple turtles mate outside his window. Maybe Bubba picked up some helpful hints. I'm not sure. He did have questions in his comments.

Since aquatic turtles mate in the water, & there are no true tortoises in his neck of the woods -- Tennessee -- I can safely guess Bubba was looking at a mating pair of Box Turtles.

This is a photo of a pair of Three Toes Box Turtles ... "in the act". This is the species commonly found here in Arkansas & similar -- if not the same -- to those in Bubbaville. In the wild, the male can easily be identified by the vivid coloration of the head, neck & legs, as well as -- in most all cases -- having red eyes. The drab colored female -- obviously without any make-up on -- will usually have brown eyes.

And ... YES ... the male will sometimes get "hooked" on the female while mating & the resulting dragging of the male by the suddenly disinterested female, is a common sight. [Even turtles have "disinterested females". I don't feel so bad.]

There you have it. More [important] information on turtle mating than probably everyone -- including Bubba -- knew about at the start of their day. Be impressive with such knowledge around the water cooler.