Saw this two weeks ago and need to post before it gets too old. Three times this year while hiking I've come across large turtles laying eggs. The Snapper was exciting, but so was this softshell. They are called Spiny because of the jagged edge on the rim of the shell by their necks. Felt kind of bad to interrupt such essential work, but couldn't resist stopping for a minute or two for a photo. In no case did the turtle leave because I was there, but they probably didn't like it. They only come on land to lay eggs.
fav