Our turtle (red footed tortoise) Max keeps hiding  – and now he is into escaping.  He has full range of our backyard full of grass, weeds, and dirt but still, he longs for other pastures.  We have a gate between our neighbor’s house and ours, which is usually closed with a small gap on the bottom.  Occasionally Max would squeeze under and I would find him in their garden bed.

Sometimes it would be days, and even weeks with Max going AWOL but then he would show up in the open, making me very happy but wondering where he was hiding.  I think he really enjoyed that – finding a spot that big Baba (me) couldn’t discover – and then showing up, like “Tadaaaa!”

Recently, during a short period of missing Max, my pal Alana texted me about a turtle being found 2 blocks away from us and posted on NextDoor.  What?!??!  Couldn’t be because even if he found his way to the neighbor’s yard, concrete steps would have prevented him from going on the street.  But, could it be him?  It sure looked like him in the picture…

So I met up with the people who posted about a lost turtle, walked over with some kakimochi (gotta bring a gift of appreciation) and was given a box full of dried hay with Max inside munching on a piece of lettuce.  The turtle looked a little bigger.

Hmmmm.  Was it Max?  Hmmmm.  I said my thanks and took him home anyway.  I put “Max” in his yard, watching him like a hawk.  He seemed to be walking much faster, and his neck didn’t stick out as much.  What if it wasn’t Max and the real Max shows up and I have 2 turtles?

I’ll let you know if that happens.  For now, “Max” is back to hiding.  He is a bit frustrated with the gate that is now always closed and lowered to the ground so he can’t fit under it.  And I have marked him.

Here is “Max” now.