why did the turtle cross the road?

I rescued a turtle on Sunday. I spotted it crossing the road about four blocks from the building where I work. It was huge! It was headed toward the parking lot of a large apartment complex, so I put it in the car and when I got to work I released it in a field next to our building, which is near a large pond.

A few minutes later I was sloshing through the water-logged turf with my co-worker, who had volunteered to take the turtle home and settle it in his "atrium". We almost couldn't find the critter; it was traveling at such a high rate of speed it had almost traversed the whole field.

The turtle is a Red-eared slider, an aquatic turtle common to these parts. It was 9 1/2 inches long and almost 8 inches wide. I don't know what it was doing so far away from a large body of water. Of course, with all the rain we've had lately, it wouldn't be wanting for mud puddles along its way.

My co-worker went to PetSmart for some turtle food and found them selling these same turtles as pets. They offered to examine the turtle for any health problems and to determine its age and sex. That'll be exciting. My guess was that it was a male at least 5 years old. I feel like it's "my" turtle, too, even though it seems to be well cared for in its new home. Here's a photo of it with two of its caretakers.

Its name is Gamara, after the Japanese "monster" who defends against an evil alien.
Here's a trailer for Gamara the Brave, the twelfth and most recent incarnation of the transformed box turtle. Personally, I don't think Gamara's face looks nearly as cute or as menacing as a real turtle.