The creature paddling leisurely in the gin-clear water at Balmorhea State Park, in far West Texas, was the approximate size, shape, and color of a buttermilk flapjack. When I crouched along the grassy ...

SHERIDAN – Up close, the spiny softshell turtle looks a little like a leather pancake, but few people get that kind of glimpse. In most sightings, they likely resemble an alligator, with only a long ...