Pet tortoise returns 4 years after escaping

Imagine the shock a couple in Brentwood got after their 25-pound tortoise dug her way out of her pen only to arrive back on their street nearly four years later. The African Spur Thigh tortoise escaped from her pen at the Wellington Gardens in Brentwood. It was October and owners, Mike and Christine Wellington, had little hope that she would survive given that winter was drawing near.

However, Lucy's species is native to the Sahara Dessert and she knew exactly where to go to survive. "When it's really dry, those tortoises will dig a hole 20-80 feet deep and sit for a year and wait for it to rain," said Mike Wellington. "And when it rains they come out and eat grass, so she must have dug a hole and sat there through the winters."

On Friday night the Wellingtons got a call from a neighbour who lives a half mile up the road. Lucy was alive. Now about 35 pounds heaver than when she left, the Wellingtons are confident this is their escape artist. The protruding bumps on her back are the same. And in a sure sign that this is Lucy, her less adventurous sister, Lionel, isn't getting along with her.

Lucy was extremely hungry when she came home. The people who found her gave her two heads of lettuce. Then she ate a bunch of kale and summer squash. Lucy is 10 years old now, and if future adventures end safely like this one, she could live to be 80 years old.