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 ...

With their leathery, pliant shells, Eastern spiny softshell turtles — the only species of softshell turtles found in New England — are especially vulnerable to predators. Since 1987, they’ve been ...