For 65 years, Butch has been a fixture in the Monta Vista neighborhood in Cupertino, wandering around Opal Carle’s yard, nibbling on roses and grazing around her feet.
But now, Butch, a threatened desert tortoise, is missing and the family he lived with for two generations is beside itself with worry.
Opal Carle was 93 when she died this summer. Butch is 150 and was expected to carry on for many more years under the care of Opal’s son and daughter-in-law, Charles and Penny Carle.
“It’s like losing a child,” said Penny Carle, the only one Butch will come to when his name is called. “I’m sitting here looking at his picture.”
The Carles think Butch was stolen on Sept. 25, the day Penny Carle had to go into the hospital. They don’t think the tortoise wandered away because there’s a chain link fence around the property, although the elderly scamp did manage to bust through a picket fence so he could graze on the rose bushes in the front yard that day.
“He was there that afternoon,” in the yard, Penny Carle said. “When my husband went to check on him at 5 p.m., he was gone.”
How far could Butch have gone if left on his four feet?
Well, he’s no speed demon, of course, jetting down the 100 feet of the driveway in, oh, about six minutes. That’s 0.189 mph, which means if he’s hoofed it non-stop for the past 19 days he’d have traveled just over 86 miles. He could have already been in Pebble Beach for days. Or near Los Banos, if he’s off to the land of his ancestors in the Sonoran Desert.
“They do move pretty fast,” Penny Carle said. “When you call Butch for food, he can get there pretty darn quickly.”
You can’t go to the pet store and buy a desert tortoise, and the family doesn’t even know how much he’s worth. A nephew gave Butch to Opal Carle when she moved into her Monta Vista home in 1943. Fifteen years ago, a turtle expert from Stanford estimated Butch was 135 years old at the time, which is long lived even for a desert tortoise.
The Carles inherited Butch from Opal Carle after she died on July 18. Penny Carle had assumed feeding duties for the desert tortoise 15 years ago and knows all of his favorites: watermelon, kale, romaine lettuce and his beloved roses.
“He knows that yard inside and out,” Penny Carle said. “Opal would sit out in her swing and Butch would graze in the grass near her feet.”
Opal Carle had taught elementary school for many years and often took Butch to class for the students to see. Penny Carle carried on that tradition.
As the temperatures drop, Butch is due to start hibernation soon and the Carles are anxious to get him back home where he can take a nice long sleep in his tool box.
When he wakes up and is ready to come out, “he starts thumping on the tool box very loudly,” she said.
If not cared for properly, the tortoise that has lived so long could die pretty quickly.
Butch’s species is listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Threats to them include off-road vehicles, development, sheep and cattle grazing, mining and drought, according to the wildlife service. Desert tortoises also are susceptible to upper respiratory disease that often is fatal.
The Carles are offering a reward but declined to say how much. Anyone with information about Butch — who weighs 40 to 45 pounds and is about a foot wide — should call Penny and Charles Carle at (408) 568-1096.
“He’s not just a desert tortoise,” Penny Carle said. “He’s very much a part of our family.”
Contact Linda Goldston at lgoldston@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5862.