Four Tortoises’ Hair-Raising Escape Left Owner a Shell

Gerd came home Wednesday and was rewarded with strawberries and rose petals. But Marion is still gone. She’s lost on the streets of Canoga Park, and she may be pregnant by Gerd.

Upon his return, Gerd immediately devoured his strawberries and rose petals and showed no outward sign of any concern for Marion.

But he must be hurting inside, his owner, Jean Shmitka, thought.

“He’s in love, let me tell you,” she said. “I’m surprised he let her out of his sight.”

Shmitka’s concern was evident.

“I wanted little turtles so bad,” she said.

The departure of the desert tortoise couple--a wrenching event in the Shmitka household--occurred Sunday when the day’s gardening ended with a careless oversight.

Chance to Plod Off

“My husband unlocked the gate to take the trash around,” Shmitka said. He forgot to relock it. Somehow it got opened later, giving the Shmitkas’ backyard collection of turtles an opportunity to plod off.

Clem, a middle-aged desert tortoise, acted his age. He stayed put.

But Gerd and Marion, just entering the prime of life, took the opportunity to wander. So did Chuy and Touche, two smaller box turtles. Jim Shmitka called his wife at work to report the four turtles missing Monday afternoon.

“I was just devastated,” Jean Shmitka said.

She made dozens of cardboard signs and flyers and spread them around the West San Fernando Valley. She also took out a newspaper advertisement.

Wednesday she got a call from someone who found a stray turtle.

“I’m so excited,” she said. “It was Gerd. Gerd is the one I’ve had since he was the size of a silver dollar.”

Recently, the Shmitkas decided Gerd needed a mate.

Chuy and Touche wouldn’t do. They were a different species.

That’s when Marion joined the clan.

“They mated last week,” Jean said. “I think she’s pregnant. So I hope to get her back.”

To be honest, though, Gerd seemed content with things as they are, even though longtime companions Chuy and Touche also remain at large.

Between meals, he nudged Jean’s toes with his nose.

She picked him up and stroked the soft part of his neck, which he obligingly exposed.

‘Good Little Guy’

“You’re a good boy,” she whispered to him. “You’re a good little guy.”

When the strawberries and roses were gone, Gerd walked over to the lawn and started to pick at the grass.

Jean walked over to a clay pot of struggling petunias.

“My poor petunias,” she said. “Oh, well, just a few.”

She plucked them.

“Look, it’s real petunia,” she told Gerd as he snapped at the leaves. Then, turning to a visitor, she said: “He usually doesn’t get this.”