Owners Hope Search Doesn't Slow To A Crawl For Missing Turtle

DETROIT (WWJ) - A Ferndale couple is trying to locate their missing Russian tortoise. Tortuga was sunning herself on the driveway over a week ago ... when she disappeared.

Eric Smith, the owner of Tortuga, says the turtle has walked off before, but not very far.

"It's kind of strange, every once in a while she will, kind of, mosey off, and burrow down or hide by a fence or something," said Eric Smith."Usually, we've had no trouble finding her after 10 or 12 minutes."

Russian Tortoises can grow up to 10 inches long ... Smith says Tortuga is about the size of your hand - he says she's brown and reddish in color and is three-years-old.

"We had her out in the front yard, and it was really strange, we looked away for about five minutes and when we looked back she was gone ... she was nowhere to be found."

"She's friendly and doesn't bite, she's probably able to survive on her own outside because she can just eat vegetation," he noted. "She's vegetarian. Usually when the temperature drops down in the forties or below, it gets a little too cold for her."

Smith says tortoises find it difficult to survive as the weather turns colder, so time is of the essence.