I live in Durban, South Africa. I am custodian of a female desert tortoise and she has been here for 10 years. She roams the property freely as it is fully fenced and on Wednesday a burglar passing by the gate saw her toddling in the driveway, jumped over the locked gate and picked her up. Thank goodness my grandson was at home at the time and he saw this happening. He yelled out the window but the thief took not the slightest notice and proceeded to walk back towards the gate holding Tordor upside down, mind you! Grabbing a cricket bat, my grandson ran out of the house (accompanied by Rottweilier Roxy) to accost him. The burglar then THREW Tordor over the gate (about six feet high) and she thumped on the tarred road outside the gate, almost in the middle of the road (no cars were coming at the time). He jumped over the gate and picked up the tortoise again, preparing to saunter away.Roxy was going mad at the gate and James with his cricket bat was inside and would have had to jump over the gate as well. He instructed the burglar to return the tortoise, or else! The thief, seeing James meant business and was bigger than him, then THREW Tordor BACK over the gate again and she fell splat on the tar inside the gate.
> James brought Tordor up to my granny flat while he phoned a policeman who lived up the road and they went to find the moron. He was apprehended and found to be in possession of drugs and other stolen good and sent to the nearest holding cell.
> After hearing the story of how Tordor had been flung into the road and then back, I feared the worst. On examining her I was astounded to find that her shell had NO CRACKS, but thought she must have been severely traumatised and possibly suffered internal injuries??? Well, two days later she shows no ill-effects, is eating, walking and acting normally. This is utterly amazing and I really cannot believe that her shell could have protected her so well. She is a delight and toddles up to my flat daily for her food and a visit. She likes to watch TV (probably the colours and movement fascinate her) and seems to love music, loves to have her shell, feet and neck rubbed and has an affinity for electricity (likes to sleep under the TV set). She is not confined to a pen and wanders the property at will, using the same routes, it seems. She likes to park next to Roxy and they will sit there quite happily together. After reading the dreadful story of the dog that attacked the tortoises, I never leave them alone. What fascinating animals they are!
> James brought Tordor up to my granny flat while he phoned a policeman who lived up the road and they went to find the moron. He was apprehended and found to be in possession of drugs and other stolen good and sent to the nearest holding cell.
> After hearing the story of how Tordor had been flung into the road and then back, I feared the worst. On examining her I was astounded to find that her shell had NO CRACKS, but thought she must have been severely traumatised and possibly suffered internal injuries??? Well, two days later she shows no ill-effects, is eating, walking and acting normally. This is utterly amazing and I really cannot believe that her shell could have protected her so well. She is a delight and toddles up to my flat daily for her food and a visit. She likes to watch TV (probably the colours and movement fascinate her) and seems to love music, loves to have her shell, feet and neck rubbed and has an affinity for electricity (likes to sleep under the TV set). She is not confined to a pen and wanders the property at will, using the same routes, it seems. She likes to park next to Roxy and they will sit there quite happily together. After reading the dreadful story of the dog that attacked the tortoises, I never leave them alone. What fascinating animals they are!
I'm happy to hear your Tordor is okay and it just goes to show you why tortoises have survived for millions of years without too much evolutionary change.
