The hardy
reptiles are escape artists, capable of evading enclosures and law enforcement;
‘I put on my lights. He kept going’
By
Kathleen Hughes, Wall Street Journal, 12/11/18
Mr.
Stone’s wife, Livia, had put Roshi on the grass under a mesh tent to protect
him from their new Black Labrador puppy while she moved their chickens out of
the coop.
“In those
five minutes,” says Mr. Stone, “Roshi managed to dig out, boogie to the edge of
the property, and get under the fence.
The
couple needed to break the news to their 6-year-old son, Jake. “Let’s not freak
out,” suggested Ms. Stone, as they searched in vain for the rescue tortoise
they had kept for 15 years. “Let’s say Roshi went on a grand adventure.”
Eight
months later, Jake, now 7, was in a gardening class in school, not far from the
house, when someone said, “Oh look, a tortoise!”
Aesop’s
fable, it seems, may have sold the tortoise short. Tortoises and turtles of all
types have soared in popularity as pets. It turns out they are resilient escape
artists with long lives—and surprisingly adept at outmaneuvering their owners.
“Tortoises
can walk really fast and get really far away,” says Susan Tellem, executive
director at American Tortoise Rescue in Malibu, Calif. “They have nothing to do
all day but figure out how to escape.”
Tortoises
have been breaking out of fenced yards, heading down sidewalks and crossing
busy streets at a good clip—leaving heartbroken owners and bewildered
bystanders to post lost and found photos on social media.
Many
owners never research the challenge of building a truly secure outdoor habitat.
“Tortoises can scale a 6-foot fence and dig a 20-foot burrow,” warns James Liu,
managing director of the Turtle Conservancy in New York. A tortoise on the run
could be seeking a mate, heading out to lay eggs or foraging for food, he adds.
There
could be as many as a million pet tortoises in California, according to the
Tortoise Group, a Las Vegas nonprofit focused on the welfare of the desert
tortoise. The group estimates there are more than 188,000 tortoises in
captivity in the greater Las Vegas area alone. That rivals the number of wild
tortoises roaming free in the Mojave Desert, says Kobbe Shaw, the executive
director of the Tortoise Group, which sponsored a study on captive tortoises.
Those who
start with a cute little baby tortoise from a pet store, particularly if it is
an expensive Sulcata, are often shocked as it grows to more than 100 pounds.
And many tortoises have lifespans of well over 60 years. While some may break
free, others are eventually dumped. Some are stolen.
“We get
1,500 calls a year about abandoned tortoises,” says Mr. Shaw who drives around
Las Vegas picking up lost and found tortoises in his gray Honda Accord, with an
odometer that has passed 250,000 miles.
The
escapees are considered a threat since pet tortoises can carry diseases that
can wipe out vulnerable wild tortoises.
Consider
Tortle, a 50-pound pet Sulcata tortoise the size of two basketballs.
Three
years ago, Ronna Rodarte, who works with special-needs children in Lancaster,
Calif., came home to find traffic stopped in both directions. Tortle had exited
her front yard, probably through an open gate, making it to the center yellow
line of the boulevar
“The
traffic travels at 70 miles per hour,” she says. “It was wonderful to see how
many people stopped.” Ms. Rodarte put a padlock on the gate. This year, the day
after Thanksgiving, Tortle went missing again. He failed to show up for meals,
and Ms. Rodarte searched his burrow, which curves out of sight.
“I’m 200
pounds and I almost made it into the burrow,” says Ms. Rodarte. But since she
didn’t fit, she rigged a mirror to a curtain rod and dropped a flashlight down
using a dog leash. The burrow was empty.
After
days of searching, the family finally spotted Tortle. He had scaled a tall display
case in the yard, becoming wedged between a chain-link fence and a heap of
furniture and appliances covered with a tarp.
Ms.
Rodarte is considering finding Tortle a safer home, fearing that her family
members don’t take his security seriously. “No one loves that tortoise like I
love him.
Last
month, Alicia Chavez, a medical assistant in Peoria, Arizona, went to work,
leaving Bubba, her 40-pound Sulcata tortoise in the front yard. Her
brother-in-law called at 5 p.m. to say the gate was open. Bubba was gone.
“When we
called his name and he didn’t show up, we knew something was wrong,” says Ms.
Chavez. “We were panicked.” The family put up fliers and searched the
neighborhood.
Ms.
Chavez posted Bubba’s photo on the Tortoise & Turtle Lost & Found page
of Facebook . Ten minutes
later, Peoria Police Animal Control officer Megan Smith called to say she
caught Bubba after he was spotted crossing the street near City Hall.
“I could
see his little bottom tail walking,” the officer says. “I put on my lights. He
kept going. He was heading to the alley.”
Ms. Smith
stopped her truck and got out. ”I ran and grabbed him,” she says. “He was
unusually fast for a tortoise.”
The
family retrieved Bubba at the police station.
“I don’t
think he would have come back on his own,” says Ms. Chavez. “Bubba just likes
to be on the go.”
Last
week, Ms. Chavez tried to create a more secure area for Bubba by placing cinder
blocks around a doghouse.
Image copyrightBRUCE BAKER
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