‘WHAT. THE. HELL. IS. THIS?”

On our walk through the park today, Olive makes a beeline for something up ahead. As we get closer, I fear it’s a dead animal of some sort so I start pulling her back, not letting her get close enough to it and its cooties. And then I see a familiar but somewhat rare site. It looks like a dark green Army helmet lying in the sand. Olive has just discovered a snapping turtle. She approaches it tentatively which means she must know that it’s alive. She lunges toward it and then jumps back with the speed of a thunderclap. Since I don’t have any of Olive’s keen senses, I tap the turtle with the tip of my sneaker and sure enough it hisses like a snake. Olive rears back and almost jumps into my arms. Now, she goes on full predatory alert. She desperately wants to check out the turtle’s snake-like face, but I won’t let her. “NO WAY OLIVE. I DON’T NEED YOU LOSING YOUR NOSE TO THIS MIDGET DINOSAUR. GO TO THE OTHER SIDE.” I notice this reptile has a fairly long tail that seems to be stuck in the sand and I realize that maybe it’s laying eggs. Olive continues to lunge and retreat, lunge and retreat, lunge and retreat. I think she definitely wants to capture it but isn’t quite sure how. All of a sudden Olive jams her snout into the sand, scoops some out and flings it onto the turtle’s back. I am so surprised by this little maneuver because I’ve never seen her do anything like it before that it makes me shriek with laughter. I hold Olive tight on her leash while we both inspect the turtle very closely. I think we are both equally fascinated by it. It does look dinosaur-like. “C’MON OLIVE, LET’S GO. THIS IS BORING NOW. IT’S GOING TO TAKE A WEEK FOR IT TO MOVE THREE FEET. “My little “hare” ignores me, still staring fixedly at the turtle’s rear end. She’s probably waiting for breakfast.