Sunday, January 17, 2010

Pretty Raphael

It seems like I haven't posted any turtle pictures since forever ... so now's the time to remedy that. :-) These are some shots I took of Raphael today. Aw, he's so pretty. My mother thinks he's a hideous monster ... I don't understand what the world must look like through her eyes. :-) His lovely coloring, and the intricate patterns on his skin ... and his gorgeous bright green eyes, come on, he's pretty! :-) A beautiful animal. Just look for yourselves. :-)

That's my arm he's leaning against, btw. :-)

I managed to catch him blinking his eyes. OK, he's not so cute right here, but it's fun seeing it. It's so weird when these turtles blink ... it's like the eye partly disappears into the skull. My first RES was bigger than Raphael and when he blinked, you could actually hear it. This kind of soft wet squishy sound. :-)

And another weird thing is that they can pull their heads into their bodies. :-) No matter how many times I see that it always weirds me out ever so slightly. And in this shot he's only retracted his head partway, too. I put my finger on his nose and pushed his head all the way in, but by the time I took my hand away and got the camera ready he'd stretched his neck out a bit again, so this was the best I could manage. :-)

My dream, though, is to one day manage to take a picture of one of them yawning. They are beyond cute when they yawn. The little guys especially, but Raphael too. I just love seeing that. Especially when they yawn under water. :-D But try catching it with the camera ... !! It's an almost hopeless task, but one day, one day ... :-)

4 comments:

Leisha Camden said...

He is!! :-D Top of the line in reptilian prettiness. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Guess the problem is with the fact that it's reptilian prettiness we're talking about? At least, that's why I think my Mum would likely agree with yours :) He's gorgeous in my opinion though, for a reptile and in general.

Leisha Camden said...

It's partly a reptile thing, and partly a size thing, apparently. My mother agrees that the little guys are cute, and when Hadrian was alive she would actually say with no prompting at all, on her own initiative, that he was a little cutie. Whereas Raphael is just nothing but creepy, apparently. She says that he has a 'snake head'. Åh, han har sånn slangehode, det er så ekkelt med sånn slangehode ... But they all have the same head shape. So I'm thinking that part of it just goes to prove my theory that anything small is cute compared to something identical but bigger ... :-D

Sherri said...

Oh, he is cute! Beautiful colors- I see why you are in love! I am following your blog now.
*Sherri* (swapbot=slevek)