Found!
Speedy is back. He was spotted wandering along the sheep field at the animal research place up the road, who knew he was missing and phoned us. It's quite a way, but at least he had the sense to keep away from the roads and to get himself found by people who have hay and boxes. Insert your own jokes about animal research labs and lost pets, but they were lovely to him.
He is now grounded in the greenhouse, which has brick walls and a step. Our considerable efforts to provide a tortoise-proof enclosure have failed. We don't even know where he's getting out, so we can't begin to prevent him doing it again. His adventure has made it clear that we live in a terrible place for a tortoise to go walkabout--it's all busy roads and fields where he's impossible to spot. He could live happily in the fields for years chomping on dandelions, but then there's farm machinery... and the fact that the whole area is soon to be bulldozed and concreted over... Also, something about being here makes him frantic to escape. I've known him 35 years, but I've never seen him work so hard to get out of anywhere. He was always foiled by the slightest step, but here he climbed up quite a big one in search of freedom. (I watched him do it and moved the plant pot he was using to brace himself, so he won't do that again, but he obviously found another way.) I think he sensed the wide open spaces of countryside and just went for it. So the only sensible thing is to rehome him before he escapes again.
I'll do a separate post in a minute with info about adopting him. I would obviously be lovely for us if he could go to someone we know.
He is now grounded in the greenhouse, which has brick walls and a step. Our considerable efforts to provide a tortoise-proof enclosure have failed. We don't even know where he's getting out, so we can't begin to prevent him doing it again. His adventure has made it clear that we live in a terrible place for a tortoise to go walkabout--it's all busy roads and fields where he's impossible to spot. He could live happily in the fields for years chomping on dandelions, but then there's farm machinery... and the fact that the whole area is soon to be bulldozed and concreted over... Also, something about being here makes him frantic to escape. I've known him 35 years, but I've never seen him work so hard to get out of anywhere. He was always foiled by the slightest step, but here he climbed up quite a big one in search of freedom. (I watched him do it and moved the plant pot he was using to brace himself, so he won't do that again, but he obviously found another way.) I think he sensed the wide open spaces of countryside and just went for it. So the only sensible thing is to rehome him before he escapes again.
I'll do a separate post in a minute with info about adopting him. I would obviously be lovely for us if he could go to someone we know.