Trouble with Turtles

Weird story. I decide to walk (run) counter-clockwise for like maybe the first time ever. Upon rounding the north east corner I spotted two police officers off to the left of the trail almost in the weeds. One had an animal snare tool and there was a lot of commotion and walkers going by were stopping to look. As I got closer someone said "it's a big snapping turtle." Sure enough there was fairly large snapping turtle right off the pathway probably at least 24 inches long. I suppose someone called it in seeing him close to the path. The cops were clearly struggling with trying to snare him. I asked them if I could take a quick picture and they said sure. I hung around for a little bit to see what they were planning to do with him but then I heard one of the cops say "let's just push him back into the weeds." I figured he'd be OK then so I headed off. Not too much further I spotted a lone buck standing very still just off the pathway. I could just make out his new velvety antlers as I took a bunch of pictures. He barely moved the whole time.
Only upon viewing the pics at home did I realize he had 2 more forks behind the first set. On the south side I attempted to get a photo of a touch-me-not flower before they disappear for the season. A little further I saw a patch of flowers that I THINK are brown-eyed-susans but I'm not sure.

Nuclear Dandelions

No deer again today and not even much anything of interest until I got back to the south side. There I spotted something that made me do a double take. Have you ever seen dandelion flowers at about 5 feet tall? Not sure if there are different species but the plant itself looked different. The flowers however looked exactly like any dandelion you'd find in your back yard. Anyway, I thought, this might be the only time I'd ever see dandelions as tall as cattails.
A little further after crossing Shingle Creek again I spotted this Great Egret high up in a tree. He stayed put for just a minute before taking off. I think this closeup of his legs is kind of a funny picture.

July Wildflowers

Not a single deer to be seen today. Maybe getting too hot for them? About all I've seen lately are a lot of wild flowers. These white ones come in about 3 to 4 and are some kind of creeping vine. About the only one I know for sure here is this purple Thistle weed which is where I see the most butterflies and bees. The little pink ones seem pretty rare as I've only seen a couple patches of them. On the other hand the whole south side is turning yellow from these tiny little yellow ones.

Growing fast

Cool and slightly humid tonight. Upon entering the first wood chip trail I noticed a little black bug jumping here and there. I thought it seemed weird and when I looked closer I realized it was a tiny toad about the size of my thumbnail. He held still just long enough for this closeup. Lots of other good stuff tonight including some pretty cool thunder clouds and every sort of bird. While stopping to watch a Green Heron fishing in a slough on the East side, I heard a loud rustle in the cattails behind me. When I turned around, I couldn't believe what I saw. There was the doe with her 2 fawns again RIGHT in front of me! I stared snapping pics as quickly as possible and my first photo caught just the one fawn by itself. I decided to post it because it shows just how long their legs are. Surprisingly all three came out and just kinda stood there and let me take photos. I could tell they were trying to figure out where to go next as they actually walked even closer to me. It was fascinating to watch the group as the fawns were clearly paying close attention to mom and would not even move without her moving first. Definitely one of the neatest thing I've ever seen on my walks at Palmer Lake!