I'm out mountain biking at the local nature preserve in Garland, TX, on Thursday and I see this monster lumbering down the trail, stopping to munch on some grass and weeds along the way.
Check this bad boy out:
He's still out there, I don't have anywhere to keep him, but he has been reported in the same general vicinity since last year. Got to be either an escapee or another abandoned animal at Rowlett Creek Preserve. I sent an email to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department asking them to help me identify him. The herp guy there said he is Geochelone sulcata and will never survive the winters here in north Texas, but he made it through this past winter and we had it bad here, so I guess he's OK.
