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Reunited And It Feels So Good: Lost Tortoise Found Again

OAKHURST — Back in September of 2016, we wrote about “Pilgrim,” the African tortoise who’d been waylaid while apparently headed for Deadwood.

“Coming home from work, Anne Grandy’s eyes scanned the road, watching for the usual hazards of deer and drivers, when she spotted one that stood out against the late summer landscape. Anne was on Road 425B heading toward Still Meadow when, there on the right, clipping along toward Deadwood, was a tortoise.”

Try as she might, Anne was unable to find the rightful owner of the tortoise, until just recently. She put up signs, and posted on various social media accounts, but no one claimed the creature she named “Pilgrim,” as an homage to his interrupted journey.

Anne had no problem caring for the tortoise initially, but as colder weather began to approach, she knew Pilgrim was in need of permanent residency with proper care. For any tortoise, this includes a secure shelter. For an African tortoise, that means warmth. Knowing an investment would be needed, Anne sought a more long-term and appropriate home for Pilgrim.

One day last month, we got a call from a woman who, while reading an article in Sierra News Online about an earthquake, came across the story of this wayward guy, and realized she knew just who it belonged to. We put her together with Anne, but at that point, Pilgrim had been happily re-homed, at least as far as one can tell about the feelings of a tortoise.

The woman’s son, a professor at a local college, had moved to the area last summer. He started out with two tortoises in a secure shelter and was shocked and saddened one day in September when one of the critters turned up missing. He presumed the tortoise had fallen victim to a predator, and was subsequently relieved to hear from Anne that Pilgrim was alive and well.

Pilgrim, who weighs about 24 pounds, had high-tailed it from the vicinity of Washburn Lane all the way down to the Stillmeadow neighborhood.

“When I talked to the original owner, I told him that Pilgrim has had a new family since September and I wasn’t so sure that they wanted to relinquish control of this new family member,” explains Anne.

“I told him, ‘please let me contact them to see.’ I know that they had gone to quite a bit of expense to get him corralled, including what was needed to house him, such as a little heating pad and specialized equipment. The young man who was taking care of him had, for his whole life, wanted a tortoise.”

As it turns out, the rogue tortoise is part of a nutritional research study on exotic animals, and the original keeper was really hoping to get him back, in order to continue with the study. The new owner in Prather, 18 years old and in college, needed some time to think about it.

The young man and the professor were able to have some conversations about the situation, and the foster owner was reassured that Pilgrim would be re-secured and get good care.

In the end, the professor admired the care given to Pilgrim by the young man, who agreed to return the critter, and was given another tortoise to care for, in exchange.

Originally adopted by the professor after having been abandoned and malnourished, then escaping post-move and grazing his way down to Stillmeadow, before finding himself eventually ensconced in Prather, Pilgrim is now back home in Oakhurst. A responsible young man in Prather is now the owner of a smaller but more colorful African tortoise, and all is right in the herp world.

That’s a happy ending.

Read the original story: African Tortoise Waylaid While Heading For Deadwood

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Sierra News Online

Sierra News Online