There are a lot of turtles in the city. My parents live a few blocks from there near Campbell and Lynn and had one who lived in their yard for about twenty years. Like someone else said, right now water is scarce so animals are roaming more. I appreciate that you were trying to keep him safe but animals tend to have mates and territories so it maybe best to get them across the road and leave it at that.

My folks once saw a pair of deer walking down the middle of Lynn. I live near Cooper Park and we used to get a lot of foxes and coyotes. And turtles and rabbits of course. We live in an urban forest, particularly in the older sections of town. No joke, I once had an injured red-tailed hawk flutter in through my patio door to hide in my house. Animal Control came out at midnight and we got him to the zoo for rehab, though he unfortunately had been too hurt and was put down.

True story, years ago some neighbors had a pet African tortoise run away and the posters had detailed pics and description. I would've assumed that any 3 ft turtle nearby was the right one.

It's a jungle out there.