What type of tutrle did I find?

Question
I work in Whitmore Lake Michigan, and happened upon a turtle on our beach. It was pretty large, had a very pointy nose, no tail, and seemed it had a very soft shell...leathery looking; Almost camouflage in colors dark green with black splotches. I assumed it was laying eggs, as it's shell seemed to  almost flex. What species is this turtle? I have looked online and couldn't find anything that looked like it....except a smooth soft shell from Minnesota.
can you help me?

Answer
Hi Danielle, here is a list of turtles native to that area:

Blanding's Turtle (Emydoidea blandingii)
Common Map Turtle (Graptemys geographica)
Common Musk Turtle (Sternotherus odoratus)
Common Snapping Turtle (Chelydra serpentina)
Eastern Box Turtle (Terrapene carolina carolina)
Painted Turtle (Chrysemys picta)
Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans)
Spiny Soft-shell Turtle (Apalone spinifera spinifera)
Spotted Turtle (Clemmys guttata)
Wood Turtle (Clemmys insculpta)



Out of those I would think its the Spiny Soft-shell Turtle
That is the only one that has the nose that you talk about. Its shell is soft as the name tells they range in tan/brown colors to green colors usually with small black spots.

Look up pictures at http://www.google.com/imghp and see if the Spiny Soft-shell Turtle looks like the one you have found. If not search the rest of the ones listed and see if any match. If not let me know and I can do more research as it probably isn't a native species in that case.

best of luck
Yexalen