A family, who had just got back from holiday, were shocked to discover a tortoise moving about in their garden on a morning in late summer. The tortoise was moving incredibly quickly across the lawn and had almost disappeared under a hedge before she was caught. A makeshift enclosure was quickly built to keep the tortoise safe while several calls were made to neighbours and the local vet, in the hope that someone might know about the runaway reptile. On a few occasions, the tortoise almost managed to escape from the pen (which had been swiftly constructed out of a few logs.)
While the owner was being found, the tortoise was allowed to roam around and explore the garden, but with at least one person keeping a watchful eye on her. She was given some lettuce as a snack, which she seemed to enjoy, and a shallow dish of water in case she needed a drink. Despite the assumption that tortoises are slow, this tortoise appeared to be quite fast and needed to be continually watched so she did not try to escape once more.
Thankfully, after a couple of hours, the tortoise’s owner was found and contacted and the escaped reptile was returned. Apparently, this tortoise was notorious for escaping, and had done so several times before – travelling surprising distances for such a small animal.
