We got our kids to stop worrying about the big resident snapping turtle by giving them masks and encouraging them to follow it around for a while. Soon they realized that the gnarly-looking dude wanted nothing to do with them, and was more a-scared of the big humans than they would ever be of him. Takes time. I can remember being a young whelp and wondering what manner of weirdness was lurking in the depths, waiting to pull me under and cause great pain. Know what? I wasn't until I'd taken a few long scuba dives below Winni that I REALLY understood how little is really down there!
