I realized he was probably getting too large for the pond and recently have wondered what I should do. Catch and release him? But HOW to catch him? There are rocks, milk crates for fish and frogs to hide from predators and to secure themselves under in the winter, and vegetation (cattails and water lilies) in the pond. He's clever and elusive. Allow him to stay? But can he survive another winter under the ice? Clicking on photos will enlarge them.
The coin on his back is a quarter - about 1 inch (2.4 cm) in diameter - to compare with his size. So what's his size now? Maybe 6 inches plus? Adults get considerably larger. The record size is 18.5 inches. Normal adult size is 10 - 35 pounds but they can reach 86 pounds!
Yesterday evening as I was going out to feed my fish, I noticed wet foot prints on the ledge stones and wondered if some mammal (a skunk, raccoon, possum, young woodchuck) was mucking about in my pond. Then I noticed Tommy a few feet away. He had somehow managed to pull himself out. That would have been impossible when he was small. Maybe he was looking for a larger home with more food and space to grow.
I picked him up and took him down the bluff to my beach. It was quite wavy and although he attempted to get in the water, being used to my very tranquil pond he was having difficulty managing the waves - I'm sorry for the blurring shots. It was windy, he was moving, the waves were waving. After a few attempts I helped him make it to slightly deeper water where waves were less intimidating perhaps.
I really hope he makes it. He has hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of years of evolution behind him. I hope someone or something doesn't find him and that he survives to produce another generation. (The two shots below show where I let him free and where my beach used to be. The bluff has eroded and trees have fallen - nature. Hey, the ice sheets ten thousand + years ago above what is now Michigan were over a mile high - or so I've read. The world changes. The only constant is change, eh?)
