Happy Hour Swamp Dragon!

For most people when the 5:00pm bell tolls it means the day is over and it's time to stroll on to the local pub for an icy cold one. Sit back, kick up the feet and exhale, forget the stresses of the day and relax.

For the crew of Swamp Monsters...its kind of the same...only instead of cold beer, feet up, and exhales of the ending work day its about mud, waders, claws and the dream of a perfect catch.

Last night Coyote and company were hot on the trail of a rather large folklore legend. The team was invited out to a beautiful little farmstead in the middle of Cardington, OH. It was the kind of place that sends you back in time, allowing if even just for a moment one's mind to forget the bustle of everyday life.

Supposedly a turtle with a carapace (top of the shell) measuring 4 feet in circumference was spotted last year in this swamp. Always worth following a lead like that!

While a monster of such proportions was not captured...the setting was absolutely perfect, and it was no more then 15 minutes into the muck that Coyote was going hands to claws with a 30 lb swamp dragon.

With the sun quickly setting the team filmed some great sequences with an incredibly epic background painted with magnificent clouds.

Throughout the 2 hour search, several turtles were spotted, chased, dove after and missed. Thick plant matter and an endless blanket of duckweed on the surface made capturing beasts of the murky abyss an incredibly difficult challenge.

A turtle of epic proportions was not seen...but the location is absolutely ideal for such a prehistoric beast to slumber. One almost couldn't have imagined the folklore of this magical place to be any more perfect.

The team is now making plans to return to this location for an extended shoot...is there a turtle the size of a coffee table out there? The legend has yet to be disproven, thus the folklore lives on, hidden beneath an eerie layer duckweed. The perfect story book setting for such a "tail" to be written.

Until next time...Stay Muddy My Friends!

Day Turtle...Night Turtle!

Tinkers Creek State Nature Preserve is 355 acres of swamps and marshlands, the perfect place to find monster Snapping Turtles.

This past weekend Coyote and Company spent nearly 40 hours filming footage for both the Swamp Monsters documentary and the Brave Wilderness reel at this location.

Mud-Man Mark Vins...prepares to head into the swamp for the morning.

There were several hours of difficult searching spent by the team to find any signs of turtles.

Amidst difficult tangles persistence finally pays off...

This is the first of 2 Snapping Turtles captured on this expedition...no world records but a couple of serious fighters.

This first one literally attacked one of our smaller specialty cameras called a DRIFT Camera...guess that is what happens when you get a camera close to an angry Swamp Monster!

Luckily the camera was not damaged, however, the plastic lens to the water proof housing was destroyed upon impact of the bite. Good news...got it all on camera!

The second Snapping Turtle was actually captured during our night shoot. This was so awesome considering we very rarely see or capture Snapping Turtles at night. There was so much algae growing on this turtle it literally looked as if the beast had hair...such a cool specimen!

After an intense day and long night in the swamps we moved onto a prehistoric looking forest with 100 foot sandstone cliffs and a series of underground caverns.

Director of Photography Chammp Swaggerty gets ready for a climbing sequence.

Shot several sequences for the Brave Wilderness reel including a really fun cave exploration scene which involved building several torches...that burnt really well we might add!

It was a fun expedition, not quite as long as some but just as intense. Probably some of the best footage we have captured all summer!

Until next time...this...is Swamp Monsters!

ENORMOUS!

People often times ask, "How long does it take to find an enormous turtle?" Well, for Coyote the answer to that question is always the same..."Depends on how much patience you have for being neck deep in mud, leeches and most people's nightmares."

Yesterday morning at 7:00 am for Coyote Peterson and Mud-Man Mark Vins that patience finally paid off when they witnessed a true Swamp Monster surface like a submarine from the murky abyss of Blendon Woods' very own Thoreau Lake.

Unfortunately this is the way it works...when you least expect to encounter the beast, the beast encounters you. Mother Nature always knows when you don't have the entire film crew, no photographers, no reporters, and not a single onlooker present to witness our shot at complete glory. Luckily...we did have our behind the scenes camera...so yes...the whole thing was caught on tape...just not as typically planned for filming Swamp Monsters.

This is the second time this turtle has been captured...but the first time it has been captured while working on Swamp Monsters, and the first time it has ever been captured with a camera rolling.

At first sight the creature was mistaken for a muskrat moving through the lily pads. Then upon properly identifying the beast as an ENORMOUS turtle, Coyote had to literally sprint part way around the lake, dive head first into the water, and swim to make the catch!

You are witness to a 55 lb Common Snapping Turtle, the biggest turtle caught this year, and Coyote's personal best. It falls only 22 lbs short of the world record!

It was an amazing capture, and truly a high mark in our efforts thus far at chasing down a world record size turtle.

This past weekend has put a lot of confidence in the team and as we gear up for a big shoot this weekend we hope our string of luck keeps growing!

Welcome to the muck! This...is SWAMP MONSTERS!

The Swamp Monster Counts!

This past weekend was Coyote and Company's second round of Swamp Monster counts at the Columbus Metro Parks. The counts, open to the public, are a way to teach the community a bit about Snapping Turtles and to give them an up close look at the creatures living just beyond the normal observation areas.

We had an amazing turnout between both Blacklick Woods and Blendon Woods. Of course everyone's favorite baby Snapping Turtle Stuart was on hand, and as always...he put on quite a show! So cute and pudgy...the kids just love to see Stuart!

Early on Saturday Coyote also nabbed this little guy, a Red Eared Slider.

Pretty good size and a great "non-aggressive" specimen for the kids to handle and appreciate. He sure did put on a show, scurrying all over the observation deck and giving the kids a few really good laughs when he decided to take a really big turtle "you know what" right in front of everyone! Not every day that you see a turtle's morning business!

Several Snapping Turtles were sighted on Saturday including one that was estimated to be in the realm of 60 lbs. Coyote made a valiant attempt to catch this monster, diving off of the observation deck into 10 ft deep water after its bubble trail, but alas, the beast escaped.

The Swamp Monster that was captured, seen here, tipped the scales at 31 lbs and put on quite a show for everyone.

One of the most aggressive turtles we have encountered all summer. Nothing like putting a snap happy beast armed with razor sharp claws on an observation deck filled with children!

Sunday found the team at Blendon Woods Metro Park where Coyote made the capture of a 40 lb Monster.

One of the biggest turtles captured so far this summer and boy, he was NOT a morning turtle. Grumpy as they get this one was!

Coyote nabbed some great up close shots. Onlookers always enjoy watching him get the camera and his fingers dangerously close to those powerful jaws.

This Snapping Turtle specifically was one of the most prehistoric looking specimens we have captured to date...seriously had claws like a dinosaur!

Sometimes it's hard to believe that these creatures are actually real...and not conjured up by Steven Spielberg's special effects teams!

Overall, the spring Swamp Monster counts were a huge success. We hope that everyone in attendance had fun and learned a few things about the Common Snapping Turtle.

A SWAMP MONSTER sized THANK YOU goes out to everyone at the Columbus Metro Parks for their help and support- without their willingness to let Coyote jump into the mud to capture these creatures, most people would probably never get the chance to see one.

Evidence continues to surface that a possible World Record Size turtle may live at either Blacklick or Blendon Woods. As the summer heat rolls on the Swamp Monster team will keep in pursuit of the ones that managed to get away.

Until next time...stay muddy...this...is SWAMP MONSTERS!

The Mini Monsters of North Bass Island!

This past weekend Coyote and Company took a 4 day excursion to the remote island of North Bass, located in the Erie Island chain.

There was good reason to believe that a large protected marsh on the island would be home to some potentially massive Swamp Monsters...however...cold weather, rain and Vampire Flies became a battle won by the environment, ultimately cutting the trip short.

From the start it seemed that the team had everything going against them, but in light of it all...they got some pretty great footage!

North Bass Island is known for its extremes and by extremes we mean extreme numbers of things. The first creatures encountered on the island were snakes. LOTS and LOTS of snakes.

NBI is covered in Lake Erie Water Snakes, a nonvenomous but fairly aggressive species that made itself present almost everywhere we went. In total the team captured 27 snakes and filmed a few great sequences that displayed what NOT to do if ever forced to encounter this species.

NOT TO DO pretty much means things that will get you bit and Coyote took a bakers dozen worth of tooth filled hits this past weekend. LEWS have an anticoagulant in their saliva which causes wounds to bleed excessively...the bites often look worse then they are but no matter how you justify it...a snake bite is a snake bite, and a snake bite is no fun!

This is supposed to be the year of Common Snapping Turtles...but this expedition again brought the opportunity to catch some big fish by hand. The team shot 3 sequences designed around the Common Carp...last week we didn't provide you with a picture proving Coyote's fish capturing skills...so here is one for the record books!

So how do you catch a Carp? You run down the shore line after the school of them as fast as you can...

You jump over a log that they are hiding behind...

And you do your best to grab one, hold on for dear life against the thrashing and splashing of hundreds of them in the water, and you try to scoop up the biggest one you can and ultimately get it under control.

Snakes...Fish...where were the turtles? The lack of sunshine and water temperatures that were nearly 15 degrees below average for this time of year definitely kept these large reptiles in hiding.

The team explored the island for several hours, Coyote climbed a really ancient looking tree...

Some fast pace running sequences were shot...

Coyote captured a very beautiful Fox Snake...

And then the rain hit. Torrential thunderstorms forced the team take refuge in an abandoned bus where they held up for nearly 12 hours.

The next morning brought sunshine and with it three things.

First the team stumbled upon a junior sized Swamp Monster...a wee lad that weighed in at about 20 lbs...

And then a second...even smaller mini monster that tipped the scales at about 10 lbs.

The team attempted to shoot some underwater footage with the turtles on the edge of Lake Erie...but with the rains came the hatching of some species of fly,that were coined Vampire Flies because they were out for BLOOD!

Hundreds of thousands of flies swarmed the island...literally it was unlike anything you could imagine. Cameras could not be held still to shoot, bug spray of several designs did nothing to repel them, and eventually it got so bad the team was forced to evacuate the island and end the mission.

Those little dark spots on Coyote's shirt...those are flies. There honestly is no describing how many flies were swarming on North Bass Island...and you would have to of been there in person to understand what it was like to be covered and bitten by these little blood suckers. Wishes were made for a giant fly swatter...but in the end...it was the bugs who won.

Overall it was a successful trip...cut a bit short...but that is the life of outdoor production...sometimes you brave the wilderness...sometimes it braves you. Perhaps North Bass Island is home to a world record size Swamp Monster...they mystery is still out there. The team was happy to catch any turtles with the weather conditions faced...all you can do is hope for better luck on the next adventure out.

A World Record Snapping Turtle is out there somewhere...the search continues for Coyote and his team. Until next time...Welcome to the muck...this is SWAMP MONSTERS!