It’s always heartbreaking when a pet runs away, but it’s always nice to have the help of your community when you’re trying to get them back.
For Elizabeth Burkes of Corpus Christi, Texas, the missing pet was a 5-year-old sulcata tortoise named Marmalade. It’s not everyday that a tortoise goes missing — they don’t tend to get very far on foot — but Marmalade disappeared after “bulldozing” through his enclosure, escaping through a hole under his fence.
“I went out about 9 a.m. to go feed her and I see her enclosure is tipped up and I’m like ‘Oh no,’” Elizabeth Burkes told KRIS.
She says she has had Marmalade for a few weeks, and has settled in well despite her “spicy” personality. Elizabeth looked everywhere for her tortoise but Marmalade was nowhere to be found.
So, she turned to a local Facebook group called Rescues United 361 Network, asking for the community’s help looking for Marmalade. Thankfully, she made a breakthrough when a local woman posted that she found a tortoise on the highway. The woman wrote that her mom blocked traffic so the tortoise wouldn’t get hit, and then someone else moved him out of the street.
Elizabeth realized it was Marmalade: she contacted the woman and was connected with the man who had her tortoise. Soon, Marmalade was back home.
According to KRIS, sulcata tortoises have a knack for escaping, so Elizabeth is taking extra precautions to make sure the tortoise stays safe at home: “We’re likely going to bury some chicken wire or some kind of wiring underneath so she won’t dig under the fence this time,” she told the outlet.
And reuniting with Marmalade led to a surprise twist: Elizabeth wrote on Facebook that she just discovered her tortoise is actually a male.
Interestingly, this is the second escaped tortoise to make the news this week: recently a 100-year-old tortoise was reunited with his family after being rescued from a canal.
We’re so glad Marmalade is back home safe and sound! Thank you to everyone who helped find him!
Please share this story if you love animals! ❤️🐢
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