Tuesday, March 2, 2004 | 8:11 a.m.
An acquaintance e-mailed me over the weekend to announce that Mrs. Tortoise awoke in time to greet Leap Day.
Mrs. Tortoise, a protected desert tortoise, has lived in Gail Lucas' backyard since its original owners moved to Alaska several years ago, Lucas said.
"She is an interesting creature," Lucas said Monday when I called about her message. "She'll wander into the house. She'll follow me around the yard when I'm out there working."
But Lucas didn't write simply to extol the virtues of sharing space with one of the protected critters.
She had just received the most recent issue of a newsletter published by the Tortoise Group that enumerated some of the abuses desert tortoises sometimes endure at the hands of their human owners.
The group is a nonprofit organization dedicated to educating the public about protection of Nevada's hard-shell residents and also administers an adoption program.
"People have let dogs harass them to the point that they stay inside their shells, and they don't come out to eat so they starve to death," Lucas said. "They can't cry out like a dog or a cat can."
They are improperly fed, chewed by other family pets such as dogs, kept in aquariums, cages, wading pools and other insufficient shelters. Some even drown in swimming pools, said Betty Burge, Tortoise Group president.
"Now we're not going to be adopting to people who have pools," Burge said.
The group's website, www.tortoisegroup.org, has a wealth of information about desert tortoises. They are protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. Those born before 1989 may be kept as pets in Nevada.
But you can't go out into the desert and bring one home. If you spot one roaming around the neighborhood, call the Clark County Tortoise Pickup Service, 593-9027. It's free. Burge's group administers adoptions of tortoises that are picked up by the service but not suitable for release back into the wild. There are typically tortoises available for adoption.
"You cannot take one now," Burge said. "If you see one in the desert or on the road, leave it alone."
Burge said the stories of neglect are especially disheartening because her group has no authority to investigate or confiscate the animals. Federal wildlife officials are hesitant to take the animals from private property, and the local animal control agencies don't deal with federally protected wildlife, Burge said.
"The ones born before 1989 are in limbo," she said. "We've had people keep them in an aquarium with a little water like a turtle. One ended up with bleeding sores all over and the shell rotting. It was in really sad shape because it was kept with moisture."
People who have tortoises should check with the Tortoise Group for free advice on how to take care of them. Call a member at 739-8043 or 873-3500 or 648-5190.
Lucas said Mrs. Tortoise is "somewhat gregarious," with a complete run of the house and yard, where it has two burrows for hibernating in winter and protection in summer.
"She and the rabbit have become great friends. I have a picture of them nose to nose," Lucas said. "I call it, 'The tortoise and the hare.' "
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