A ‘naughty’ escape artist tortoise has finally been returned to his owners four years after going missing.
Fred, a male Hermann’s tortoise, ran away from his family in winter 2018 when he snuck out under a fence panel in the garden.
Georgina Rogerson, of Thornton-Cleveleys in Lancashire, said she was ‘gutted’ to lose the beloved family pet and thought he had died.
But it turns out the animal was found by Sara Ellis, 34, on a busy road around a mile away from his home.
She took him in and advertised on Facebook to find his owners each year afterwards – and this year she was successful.
Georgina, 46, said: ‘I started crying, I couldn’t believe it.
‘He was still the same old, full of naughtiness Fred. He’s got such a character, and he’s not changed at all. It was brilliant seeing him again.
‘I can’t believe he’s come back after all these years – it’s just amazing! I’m so grateful for Sara for stopping.’
Georgina said her family bought the Hermann’s tortoise – a small- to medium-sized breed which can live for up to 90 years – in 1973 for 50p.
The trainee nurse associate said Fred would often go missing.
‘He’d usually escape from the front side of the house as we live on a cul de sac,’ she said.
‘We would get a knock on the door occasionally, and there would be a kid or a parent saying, “Your tortoise is here.”
‘But in 2018, we had a storm, and the back fence had blown down in the wintertime.
‘There’s a watercourse that surrounds our cul-de-sac, and behind that, there’s a wooded area and then there’s a field as well, and then you’re onto an A-road.
‘We were gutted. We searched for him and put out flyers. But we thought if he’d gone out that back way, he’s dead – there’s no way he could survive.’
But somehow he survived for a few months until Sara, from nearby Fleetwood, spotted him in the road in July 2018.
‘There were loads of cars start swerving around something in the road, and as I got to that point, I saw this tortoise walking along the road,’ she said.
‘I thought someone would stop, but then I saw loads of HGVs that were ready to get to that point, so I thought: “S**t, I’m going to have to stop here!”
‘So, I did a U-turn when I got to some traffic lights, put my foot down, stuck my hazards on and picked him up and bunged him into my car.’
Animal lover Sara put Fred in a cardboard box with straw and lettuce at first, hoping his owners would come forward.
But when her social media appeals failed, she bought him a heat lamp and special enclosure and continued to search for Fred’s family on an annual basis. And in January, Georgina finally replied.
Sara added: ‘On the anniversary, I’d put a post up to say, “Look, I found this tortoise,” but nothing happened.
‘A couple of people messaged me, and I knew it was not theirs, but then Georgina messaged me.’
Georgina sent her a picture and the shells matched – so Fred could be returned to his rightful owner.
The pair have been firm friends since.
‘She’d bought all the gear for him, so he’s got a proper house now, with a heat lamp. She’s an absolute angel,’ Georgina said.
‘He’s staying in that now, and I’ll get him out during the day when I’m at home. But if I’m not at home, he’s not going out. He can’t be trusted anymore!’
Sara, an assistant manager at Aldi, said Fred’s escape showed tortoises aren’t as slow as people may believe.
She said: ‘People think tortoises are slow and steady, but they’re absolutely not.
‘If they’re on a mission like he was that day, they are pretty fast. They are good at escaping.’
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