In the backyard of the house I'm renting, there's a swimming pool that is not in use because of structural problems. It's uncovered, so there's a few feet of water in the deep end. Leaves and pine needles fall in, so the water has a nice brown color. We've seen tadpoles in the spring and a few big frogs survived to munch on mosquito larvae, no doubt. My son was a big hit at preschool when he took in a dozen tadpoles last spring.

Anyway, I was taking a rake to the water to get some of the pine needles and leaves out, and I raked up some eggs. They are white, oval, about 2.5 cm x 3.5 cm. I've been trying to find out what could have laid them, but Google was of limited use. I looked around a pond egg identifier page, but had no luck - most of the info was on frog eggs and fish eggs, and I figure these are probably reptile. I thought they were snapping turtle eggs - have seen one on the property - but those eggs are round.

Any ideas?

If they are "leathery", they are probably some kind of snake egg.

Snapping tutles are no joke. Them's is bad reptiles.

pictures?

I was thinking it'd be cool to have pix.

Lemme see what I can do after work...

Need live cam for this one too.

Whatever hatches out of those eggs, a 12-gauge shotgun should be able to handle it.

Or were you considering a big-ass omelet ?

Nahh. They're harmless unless you start bugging them. Most animals are more afraid of people than vice versa, for good reason.

Yeah, but usually bugging a snapping turtle happens unwittingly -- like stepping on them. Then *CRUNCH* you've lost a toe.

A snapping toetle?

How far from Spielberg do you live? They could be rejects from Jurassik Park. I'd be carefull... Might some T-XRay eggs or, even worse, Verocious Rapture as often seen sitting at Olive Garden's tables. Feeding them valium could save your life.

Snapping Tuttle??

Fred, I'm a mammal.

Honest.

Yes, Fred, Tom's abundant fur coat and his lactation abilities cinch it. Mammal.

Yes, I think that, by law, every Georgian must have one of these. So it seems.

Even before the first cup of coffee?

I can shoot those eggs!

In weather newstoday, our radar shows Concord, New Hampshire encased in a very usual black cloud. Meteorologists are baffled by the cause.

Wait, this just in. We are just now getting reports that the mysterious black cloud over Concord is actually a giant flock of angry birds. Witnesses say people have fled indoors. All except one man who is running madly around in an Ultraman suite with a BB gun. Apparently, he has run out of BB's and is now leaping around in circles and frequently stopping to make an odd crossed arm gesture at the birds while screaming "Pew! Pew! Pew!".

More on this story to come.

A square room provides sanctuary for no man.

Awesome, Murph.