I only found out that this blogfest was taking place again this year a couple of days ago. So it was a mad scramble to find a post I wanted to repost.
DL Hammons has decided to make the Deja Vu Blogfest an annual event.
So I decided to repost A Tale Of One Tortoise that you can read in it's original June post here.
A Tale Of One Tortoise
Before I share this tale let me tell you that tortoises aren’t as slow as everyone thinks. Once they warm up and get going they can move at some speed (OK so the hare would probably still win as long as it didn't take a nap). One minute they are there the next… GONE!!!
So anyway…
We have a pet tortoise who goes by the name of Lily (I’ve no idea why her name is that).
 |
| Lily the Tortoise |
When she gets quite warm and active she starts trying to claw her way out of her tank. So we let her out for a walk around the house.
Lily seems to have a fondness for hide and seek as she will wander off and hide in a corner, often pushing things out of the way to get to them (she’s quite strong for her size).
And then we spend ages looking for her under and behind various pieces of furniture, under the curtains, those kinds of places.
With the recent warm weather we have been letting her have a jaunt around the back garden (she likes dandelions) but only if there is someone out there to keep an eye on her.
The other day it was my Dad… who seemed to have forgotten the speed at which tortoises can move at once they get going (especially in the sun – she must be solar powered).
So one minute our house was peaceful the next my Dad is bellowing the war cry that he had lost the tortoise – last seen heading for around the back of the shed.
So I started looking for her, then my brother and Mum were enrolled by my Dad for tortoise hunting duty.
While my Dad grumbled about it not being funny and the rest of us telling him that he was supposed to be watching her I noticed through the chain link fence (and whatever the plants are growing in front of it) that our next door neighbour was acting strangely. He put a box upside down on the floor at the end of his garden.
After a few more minutes of searching the neighbour seemed to notice us… given that we were all stood behind the shed under a tree and asked us if we had lost a tortoise.
Lily had only found a hole in the chain link fence!
Who knows where she would have ended up if the neighbour hadn’t spotted her?
Well it took us slightly longer to get her back as the neighbour, having never come across a real life tortoise before, was reluctant to pick her up.
We assured him that she didn’t bite and she wasn’t that heavy… after all she’s not an alligator snapping turtle nor is she a giant tortoise (if she was a giant tortoise she’d have probably taken the fence with her!).
So until we can get some sort of run made for her Lily has been grounded!
***
She still likes to play hide and seek with us... my Dad ended up building a little makeshift wall about 6 inches high out of bricks. Lily patrolled it and investigated for structural weakness - so far she hasn't found any but at this time of year she is confined to the house anyway.
Click the link at the top of this post to go and check out other Deja Vu posts.
8 comments:
What a cool pet. I had one of those little turtles with a painted shell when I was a kid. They were sold in round clear plastic containers with an "island" with a plastic palm tree in the middle. You'd put water in it to create a "natural" turtle environment. Apparently my turtle didn't like being confined there and soon escaped. It took several days until we found it dead underneath our washing machine out in the garage. Your tortoise sounds much more fortunate.
Lee
Tossing It Out
My brother and I dug a shallow pit in the yard when we were kids, and kept it supplied with food and water for a host of turtles. I can't exactly call them "pets", because they were free to come and go as they liked, but there was always a number of them visiting with us. On the other hand, some years ago, my daughter wanted a pet tortoise. We got her an adorable little African spurred tortoise. Yoda was only about the size of a silver dollar when we bought him, and he had a pretty little ruffled shell and the most amazing pale green eyes. But he grew... and he grew... and he grew. He got so big, half of her apartment was delegated to his habitat. And he still had a lot of growing to do. She ended up donating him to a private zoo. Oh well. It's probably not a good idea to have a pet who's gonna live so long, you have to make arrangements for him in your will.
A turtle is probably the only pet I DIDN'T own when I was growing up. Whenever I see one trying to cross the road I pull over and help it along so it doesn't end up squished by some uncaring motorist.
Thank you for taking part today!! :)
It's pretty funny when your tortoise gives you a run for your money! :D
What a fun post. I'm so glad you included a picture of Lily. The thought of a brick wall 6 inches high cracks me up.
Haha, a friend of mine has two tortoises (torti?). The big one likes to climb up on the book shelves, the little one likes to sit on the router. They sure do get into a lot of trouble.
Shannon at The Warrior Muse
Funny story! You should interview your neighbor and post his version. I imagine it would include comments like:
"I noticed my neighbors acting crazy in their yard, but I was too busy trying to capture this tortoise which appeared out of no where to stop and ask them what they were doing."
And later in the story...
"And then they expected me to touch that creature! I could have lost a finger."
Hahahahaha.
Saying hello from the blogfest. Glad the turtle was found. Thanks for sharing your story.
Post a Comment