Meet Leonardo the tortoise: Leonardo hails from Ulverston, a town in the northern UK region of Cumbria (wonder if he’s underfoot in Princess Charlotte’s 10th bday portrait). Leonardo has been a pet tortoise for 13 years in the cozy, heat-lamped home of his person, Rachel Etches. But in July of last year, Rachel was newly a mum of two and more than a wee bit overworked and distracted, and yeah, Leonardo bolted from the garden (as fast as a tortoise can bolt). He’d done this once before and was safely home after a few days. This run, though? It’s only just now having a happy ending nine months later, after Leonardo was handed to a pet store by a good samaritan, and Rachel immediately reached out upon seeing the store’s Facebook post. And here’s the kicker: the pet store was only one mile from whence Leonardo escaped! Silly boy.

After 9 months of searching, a missing pet tortoise has been found a mile from its home.

Leonardo vanished last July from his Ulverston home in Cumbria, United Kingdom. Rachel Etches, the reptile’s owner of 13 years, “feared the worst” after the pet disappeared from her garden.

Etches found no sign of Leonardo through the rest of the year and into 2025, until she saw a message posted by a local pet shop.

“We have had a tortoise handed in this morning…Please share!” Little Beasties Ulverton posted on social media on April 22. Etches instantly recognized the tortoise as Leonardo and responded, “This is my tortoise” in the post’s comments section.

On Thursday, April 24, Little Beasties updated their followers: “We have some great news! Leonardo is now back with his owners after 9 months of being missing! Thank you to the gentleman who brought him to us.”

According to the BBC, a dog walker had spotted Leonardo while walking down a street about a mile from Etches’ home and brought him to Little Beasties. When found, the tortoise was uninjured except for a sore eye.

“He’s led a very comfortable life for 13 years under a heat lamp in my house,” Etches told the outlet. “We didn’t think he was going to survive the winter being out there for the first time.”

The pet owner believes Leonardo hibernated during the winter and woke up in the warmer months. If not, the reptile covered about 20 feet per day.

“It was totally my fault,” Etches explained. “We were out in the garden, we’d just had our second child, I got a bit distracted and he just wandered off out of our sight.”

This was not the first time Leonardo had left Etches’ property. He escaped a few years ago but only for several days.

“They’re very adventurous beings,” Etches told the BBC. “They always test the boundaries of wherever they’re put.”

The day the reunion was announced, Etches wrote on Facebook: “Proud owner of the [world’s] best escape artist 😤 welcome home you little bugger.”

[From People]

I didn’t know tortoises (tortoisi?) were such adventure hounds?! All these years of mischaracterizing them as scared, introverted critters who like to hide in their shells. Ditto regarding the image of them being slow (thanks a lot, Aesop!). Or maybe it’s just a British tortoise thing, because 10 years ago Guinness World Records honored Bertie for being the world’s fastest tortoise. My deepest apologies to Testudinidae the world over, for all our past assumptions. But no really, “He’s led a very comfortable life for 13 years under a heat lamp in my house,” is one of the most adorable sentences uttered, ever. I hope he was able to disengage from the winter, hibernate, and get a little “me time.” Maybe he just wanted a break until the baby at home was sleeping through the night, just saying.

So, last week he heard about a dog reuniting with her persons after being on the lam; this week a tortoise; I look forward to learning what species of wayward pet it’ll be next week. Or, you know, you crazy kids could stay put with the adoring parents who love and take care of you!

Photos credit: Kaboompics.com, Optical Chemist and Alfred Franz on Pexels