So, we weren't expecting this on one of our walks today Yoji was rummaging, as he does, in a field. He was wagging his tail and when he came up for air he had something in his mouth. He put it down and was still picking it up and pushing it about. When he handed it over, look what it was. It's so tiny, maybe 2" long
Ooo were there any more as there may be a mum about do you think? What are you going to do, will you keep it? Is it a tortoise or a turtle?
Wow, what an extraordinary find! Sounds as if it's going to someone who'll know how to care for it. Well done Yoji!
Great find, wonder how it got there. One of my Akitas,had a habit of picking up hedgehogs not quite sure how he knew they were there.
Hello there, Yoji really is a great young hunter! Well done him. So cute and glad you can find a home for him. I had a tortoise when I was younger, it was great though the Pomeranians my parents had did not like it lol. Jane xx
Oh, he found a set of keys the day before too, they were behind a tree, after a conversation with a nearby walker it turned out that the guy puts the keys there when he goes fo a walk, saves him carrying them Good find Yoji, although you can ' stand down ' !
What a clever boy he is! You should look into doing Scent Training classes with Yoji, he clearly has the talent. I wonder if someone is looking for the tortoise? I believe they can be quite expensive. If your vet is a tortoise fan, that sounds like a good solution, as he is more likely to hear if someone has lost one.
How clever, be great at playing hide and seek Is it illegal to keep tortoises as, I would have been so tempted to keep him/her. Might be a daft question but If, it is illegal to keep them, dies anyone know why and what will the vet do with them, keep them!
It is illegal to import or sell live wild-caught protected species of tortoises, but breeders can sell the ones bred from parents that they own.
Back in the olden days, when I was a child, tortoises were imported in their thousands, and were a very common pet for children - though few made it through the first hibernation. I could never understand why I kept finding Krushchev, Kennedy and Macmillan on their backs, then I spotted Flossie the rabbit deliberately tipping them over. Thank goodness they are more expensive and difficult to get hold of and hopefully better cared for these days.
We also had a tortoise but I cannot remember its name. It used to get into Father's herbaceous borders and eat the lupins. Mind you, twin and I, as babies - must have been babies as I have some photographs somewhere... somewhere... which show us sitting in one of the borders eating the heads off some type of daisies, and twin was not walking at that stage. The tortoise used to literally rush around at an impossible speed so Father did what a lot of people did in those days, he drilled a hole in the edge of the shell and tied a piece of cord to it so the tortoise could not get lost. Poor little thing got hit by a firework one year as the horrid boy next door chucked on one over the fence, but the tortoise still rushed around albeit with a limp. The tortoise went through a number of hibernations - Father used to put it in a wooden box packed with straw and with airholes so it could breathe. He probably did it all wrong but who knew what to do in those days?
For such sedate animals, they did seem to travel long distances, probably because garden fencing was often runs of chestnut palings. We occasionally had visits from a tortoise with No 14 written on her back, but Mum was phobic about the creatures, and couldn't even watch one on TV, so I never had the chance to owning one.
Sedate was hardly the word for our tortoise! But the garden was well fenced, not just palings, so it could never get out - lost in flower beds yes, but it would have been impossible for it to have gotten out of the garden.
Well, it's going to the vets for advice. He owns 3, so, I'm sure he will answer all questions How we saw it was that were Yoji found it there was nothing green to eat, no water around and it was caked in mud I don't think it's survival chances would have been good If he says it has to go back we will take advice we're to put it Keep you posted !
Looking forward to hearing what happens! As it's so tiny, I imagine it will have to be kept somewhere warm over winter, because I doubt it would have enough fat reserves to see it through hibernation.
