The cache is named after a discovery of a super cute baby Spiny Softshell turtle found in the cache area earlier this year. It hung around for a photo and zipped away! It's flat thin body was unlike any other turtle that I've seen.. The photo is in the gallery!
Apalone spinifera are easily distinguished from other turtles because of their different looking carapace. Unlike most turtles in Georgia and South Carolina, the spiny softshell turtle has a flat, leathery shell with very flexible edges, "resembling a pancake". This carapace can get up to 18" long in females and only 9" long in males being an olive, brown to grayish color with dark spots in males and younger turtles. In adult males, the shell has a lot of spines on the carapace, but in females it only has a few spines. Apalone spinifera has a snorkle like snout. Their feet have more webbing than most of the other turtles. This may be because they spend most of their life in water.
Softshells often bury themselves in the mud or sand where they sleep or wait for food to carelessly swim by. They can sometimes be observed basking on sandbars or logs protruding from the water. These turtles are mainly carnivorous, eating almost anything living in the water that will fit into its mouth. This includes, fish, insects, and crayfish. They bury themselves in the sand or mud with only their head sticking out and grab prey as they swim by. Spiny softshell turtles are most active April through October. They usually breed in May and lay 4 to 30 eggs on sunny sandbars or in loose soil.