Weird Arizona Creature

You know when I went on my solo adventure in January and got all those shots of the creeks running and the ducks at Green Valley Park here in Payson, Arizona? Well, I was at the Water Wheel Campground taking shots of the creek when I looked across the highway and saw this huge outcrop of rock that I thought was really cool.

I zoomed in a little closer, past the big tree limbs so I could actually see it. In the back of my mind I kept thinking that something about that rock looked really familiar but I couldn’t place it at first.

I zoomed in even closer and got to looking at the really weird rock under the ledge. It was so beautiful the way it looks like it was decorated on purpose by some ancient culture. But I kept thinking to myself that something about that rock looked familiar.

On my way home I kept thinking “Crow, Crow”. I didn’t realize why until I had gotten home and had uploaded the pictures to my computer. All I can say is it’s a good thing I didn’t decide to take a hike that day. You see, I heard a joke one time about a turtle. I don’t know where the joke came from or who made it up but in this case the joke was unknowingly based on the truth.

The joke goes like this:

Deep within a forest, a little turtle began to climb a tree. After hours of effort, he reached the top, jumped into the air waving his front legs and crashed to the ground. After recovering, he slowly climbed the tree again, jumped, and fell to the ground. The turtle tried again and again, while a couple of birds sitting on a branch watched his sad efforts. Finally, the female bird turned to her mate. "Dear," she chirped, "I think it's time to tell him he's adopted."

Kind of silly I know but like I said it’s based on the truth. Only in the true story as the poor little turtle was jumping into the air and crashing to the ground, his “bird parents” were laughing at his efforts. In Arizona we have huge black birds called Crows and usually they aren’t too much trouble, other than getting in the trash, but they have this really weird habit of picking up baby giant turtles and, well, parenting them. Most turtles don’t think anything of it and eventually go their own way but this turtle took offense to his parents laughing at all his hard work. His legs were permanently shorter from all his crashing to the ground and his eyes are forever crossed and dazed due to bouncing off all the trees and rocks on his way down. He became angry, ate his parents, and took to hiding in the Arizona desert under the shade of rock outcroppings.

The turtle learned that he could hide out around camping areas and pick off hikers as they came through. Men, women, children, dogs, it didn’t make any difference to him. Food was food and he could take out his frustration. In time, more and more people heard about the turtle and started calling him the “Birdbrain Turtle” which made him even angrier.

He was so angry that his heart turned to stone, and in time, so did the rest of him. He can still move around from rock to rock but he’s a little slower now with all that weight on his legs.

He is so angry because people continue to laugh at him. Now, with every kill he makes he etches a kind of square shape into his shell and decorates it to look like the work of ancient peoples. He uses this disguise to hide under rocks and lure unsuspecting hikers and pottery thieves in to him. They oooh and aaah over the beautiful craftsmanship and then he makes his move.

Again, all I can say is that I am soooo thankful that I didn’t go for a hike across the road that day. Arizona has the most beautiful country I have ever seen and it’s an amazing place to visit but please, know your weird Arizona creatures and be sure that what you’re looking at is real. (Remember, tarantulas, gila monsters, rattlesnakes, and scorpions are your friends.)

Here are some more weird Arizona creatures to keep an eye out for:

Deer Lake Water Monster

Arizona Alligator Asp

Arizona Rhinodile

Arizona Spittacroserous

The Mud Bear

Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia

The Great Arizona Raptor

Evil Twin Trolls