A Classified Ad and An Observant Neighbor Reunite A Man and his Turtle
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When John Czarnecki was 16 years old, he bought a three-toed box turtle that had a little cross carved into its shell. Today John is 76, and LuLu the turtle, who was eventually named by his children, continued to thrive.
A lot can be learned about a pet in 60 years, and John knew LuLu liked some direct sun occasionally. On May 10, he placed her in a basket in his yard, something he’s done many times before. This time, though, she managed to climb out and crawl away.
When John discovered she was gone and could not find her anywhere, he notified the custodian of his residential development, Cottage Glen in Ellison Bay. Neighbors joined the search, but no one could find the turtle.
“I live here alone,” John said. “She was like my companion. Like in the movie Cast Away, she was my Wilson. That’s the way I felt when she was gone.”
(In that movie, Tom Hanks’ character finds a volleyball on his deserted island, draws a face on it and names it after the ball’s manufacturer, Wilson Sporting Goods. When Hanks builds a raft to escape the island, Wilson falls off while they’re out at sea and floats away, leaving Hanks to grieve the loss of his only companion.)
John made posters, plastered them around the neighborhood and took out a classified ad in the Peninsula Pulse. The ad – placed in the Lost and Found section with his phone number listed at the end – read: Lost/Missing Pet. Long time family pet still missing. Box turtle approximately 8in long, not native to the area. Lost in vicinity of Cottage Glen in Ellison Bay. $250 reward.
Weeks passed, and LuLu remained missing.
Box turtles are native to the south-central United States, from Missouri and Oklahoma south to Alabama, and west into Texas. Even if LuLu’s survival instincts were kicking in – land turtles live in the wild in wooded and grassy habitats near water – she wouldn’t have survived a Wisconsin winter.
“I was in shock,” John said. “I couldn’t believe it.”
‘I Found a Cute Little Friend Today’
Tyler Frykman and Ashley Lusk-Frykman live about a mile and a half from John’s house across Lakeview Road and through some woods. The morning of July 15, Ashley was sweeping off the back patio and discovered LuLu taking shelter beneath a potted plant.
Of course, she didn’t know it was LuLu. Neither did she know much about turtles.
“We do live very close to the Mink River, so it’s not unusual to see turtles,” she said.
She wet LuLu with a hose, gave her some water and spinach, then went off to work. Before she left, she posted, “I found a cute little friend today” with a short video of LuLu on her Instagram account. The next morning, a friend who had seen the post texted Ashley about the missing-turtle ad in the Peninsula Pulse.
“I thought she was totally kidding with me,” Ashley said – until her friend sent her the ad.
The couple contacted John, who identified LuLu by that long-ago cross mark that was still visible on her shell. The two were reunited more than nine weeks after LuLu went missing.
“It’s almost a miracle,” John said. “I almost gave up on her.”
John took LuLu home and gave her a good soak – “They do like to soak, even though they’re a land turtle,” he said – before returning her to her 50-gallon terrarium with UV lighting.
At first, LuLu remained skittish and wouldn’t come out of her shell. But now she’s back to living the turtle’s life in the safety of her longtime home, eating night crawlers and live June bugs with a little banana and cantaloupe on the side.
Ashley still finds it surprising that LuLu made her way into their yard, given that it’s completely fenced in and the turtle would have needed to burrow beneath the enclosure. John has his own ideas about LuLu’s determination.
“Somehow, I think she made it to somebody’s house because she felt that was someplace she could get some care,” John said. “There’s no way she could live in the wild for a long time.”
