CARLTON, Ga. - A low-speed chase is underway for a 50-pound pet tortoise that escaped from its owners in northeast Georgia.
Zip forced his way out of a backyard fence Friday night in Carlton, The Athens Banner-Herald reported.
Last year, owners Susan and Kerry Fisher installed hog panel fencing to fortify their yard, but Zip pushed and pushed on the fence until the nails came loose from the wood poles. The animal possibly wandered off into the 1,000-acre tract of woods behind the home.
The Fishers have put out fliers and contacted those who might receive a report of an unusually large tortoise.
Susan Fisher fears that the tortoise, which is a native of the Sahara Desert, will not survive the Georgia winter if it is not found.
She also said that many people in Madison County eat turtles in a stew known as turtle mull, adding that it's possible someone will eat Zip.