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www.insidehalton.com |OAKVILLE BEAVER |Thursday, July 27, 2017 |10 If Martin the missing pet tortoise was put in lake, he'd sink by Kathy Yanchus Metroland West Media Rachelle Green is searching high and low for the whereabouts of Martin, her six-year-old pet tortoise. After her story was publicized last weekend, Green received a tip from a caller w ho believes they saw the small black and yellow tortoise walking in a grassy area along a path last Thursday at Brook Valley Park which is in the vicinity of Warminster and Valley Drives. If anyone spots Martin, they are asked to call Green at 416-559 0084. Martin went m issing July 11 at approximately 4 p.m. after som eone scooped him up from the lawn of his Bridge Road home and apparently headed to the lake to release him. According to construction workers in the area, the man -- described as a white male approximately 50 years old wearing an orange construction shirt and possibly driving a black Chrysler 300 -- believed the turtle to be "w ild" and "dry". Since that time, Green and her m U. m l v Martin the tortoise is still missing after he wandered outside his backyard sanctuary July 11 where he was spotted by a passerby. Thinking the pet was wild, apparently the man told construction workers in the area he was going to release him by the lake. The problem is Martin can't swim. | Rachelle Green photo husband, as well as her neighbours, have been scouring the area but as of yet, there has been no sighting of the black and yellow turtle with a red sticker on his shell. (The red sticker is so that when he' s hiding in the backyard Green can easily spot him). "I can' t even believe that this person hasn't seen one of my signs yet. I have signs everywhere, big, giant signs with larger than life pictures of Martin, saying, `Lost turtle. Please call and if you picked him up you know it' s you."' "He literally m ust have just gone outside the fence minutes before because I was with him in the backyard until 3:30 and this was just after 4 p.m. "I was doing a lot of landscaping that day and I was working with him. He' s very friendly and curious and he follows m e around in the backyard." People think `oh it' s (just) a turtle,' but Martin has personality, said Green. "He knows w ho I am. If I'm m owing the grass, he follows me around; he walks behind m e." "He' s a really good pet. He has his own bedroom. The backyard is completely landscaped for him. He has little hiding places. He eats weeds, dandelions, different types of flowers; every plant that I have is planted specifically so he can eat that plant." Green said all of the potential escape routes in the backyard had been blocked, but Martin managed to find a small area where a rabbit had dug a hole under the fence so it w ould appear Martin proceeded outside his security zone which was when he was apparently spotted. Green is desperate to locate the man w ho she believes thought he was doing what was best for Martin, so she can narrow their search. "There' s lake everywhere. I just need the person to tell us where they brought him so w e know where to look." Martin is a tortoise from the desert and desert turtles do not swim at all, said Green. "They are not designed for water at all; they are designed to retain water which is w hy he looks more like a rock. He literally has a drink once a week. They're designed for the desert." At close to four pounds in weight, Martin w ould sink like a stone if he were placed in water. "If he was put in the water then that' s it, it' s done but I need to know that. The person might have thought they were doing the right thing and they could have dropped him in the lake and killed him ," said Green. GREAT WAYS TO SAVE ...for your dream home F ir s t o n t a 1 ; 16 MONTH TERM DEPOSIT 2.00%* 2.10% U N I O N 30 MONTH TERM DEPOSIT C o n d itio n s a pply. R ates a re s u b je c t to c ha ng e. *R a te s a p p ly to re g is te re d a n d n o n -re g is te re d p ro d u c ts . FirstOntario C R E D I T Visit us at www.FirstOntario.com or call us R 0014411270