R. K. Cook's video: Cute Baby Turtles of Georgia River Cooter Painted Spiny Softshell Musk

HANK WILDING'S JOURNAL: Is there anything cuter than a baby turtle? I think not. With that sweet thought in mind, Ole Hank's put together an awww-inspiring look at four turtle tots common to Georgia's creeks, rivers, bogs and ponds. EASTERN RIVER COOTER: With drought-like conditions reducing Little Cotton and its twin tributary, Big Cotton, to slow, shallow trickles, this has been an extraordinary year for turtle viewing in general — although I'd trade that grim reality in a heartbeat for a week or so of slow, steady rain. Just about every rock and stump in Little Cotton Indian Creek seems to have one or two of these small fry basking upon it this year (2016). I just had to include a shot of a young River Cooter basking alongside a hulking adult female. SOUTHERN PAINTED TURTLE: These beautiful little guys called my frog pond home this spring, before several weeks of mercilessly hot, rain-bereft weeks turned it into a desert. I'm hopeful that they — along with the other aquatic critters that called the pond home — managed to make the short but arduous crawl to Little Cotton after paradise disappeared around them. Alas, the tadpoles couldn't make the trek, although I rescued as many as I could. GULF COAST SPINY SOFTSHELL: At first, I mistook this softshell (a little bigger than a half dollar) for a leaf, but leaves don't have cool periscoping necks. This is one of my favorite turtles; they're just so, well, different, and rarely seen. If this one's a gal, she might someday grow to be 17 inches. That's a big turtle, my friends! I tried my best to catch him/her but he/she was a slippery little sucker. LOGGERHEAD MUSK TURTLE: Since this turtle tot isn't particularly photogenic (no offense, dude), I nabbed him for a few closeups. I only spotted him because I was looking for a nice, flat skipping stone and noticed one of the rocks in the shoals of Little Cotton was trying to crawl away. He was a feisty little booger who would have loved to take a chunk out of Ole Hank. I told him I don't taste like fish and set him free, back into the creek. (Special thanks to John Jensen, Senior Herpetologist and Senior Wildlife Biologist with Georgia DNR, for identifying Musky for me.) Still sitting there? There are baby turtles to see and appreciate! So get off your duff and do some wilding stuff!