I met this little guy on the paved sidewalk at the beginning of the LaChua Trail at Paynes Prairie State Park.  I was surprised to see a turtle so far from water, but I could by the shape of his soft shell that he was definitely a turtle, not a tortoise.

I Googled this creature who resembles a cross between a Chinese Budha and a life form from Star Wars who ended up on the cutting room floor.  It turns out his sci-fi worthy appearance is only the beginning of the oddities of this Chinese Soft Shell Turtle, as I learned in this article.

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