HOW DO YOU LOSE a tortoise? I don’t have the answer and didn’t call to ask. But on Faribault’s east side, Mary the tortoise has gone missing.
I spotted a sign recently for the disappearing reptile on the corner of Ravine Street and Sixth Avenue Northeast. I’ve seen many lost dog and cat posters in Faribault. But a tortoise? Never.
Of course, I instantly thought of the fable, “The Tortoise and the Hare,” in which the slow-moving but determined tortoise wins the race against the confident, boastful rabbit. While the hare naps, the tortoise keeps going. In the end, the loser realizes that maybe, just maybe, he shouldn’t have been so mocking of the tortoise. It’s a good lesson for anyone. It’s OK to be confident, but not at the expense of putting down others.
Back to tortoises. Many years ago, one showed up on our driveway on a summer afternoon. What a surprise. No one expects an errant tortoise on their property. A cat or dog, yes. But an over-sized reptile, no.
My brave brave second daughter scooped that tortoise up, despite my motherly warning not to do so (hey, I didn’t know how the reptile would react), and carried it back home across busy Willow Street. How our neighbor’s tortoise escaped and then safely crossed the street still baffles me.
Just like Mary. What happened to her? And where, oh where, has that not-so-little tortoise gone?
© Copyright 2023 Audrey Kletscher Helbling
Minnesota Prairie Roots 
So sweet and you always wonder…
Hopefully Mary will find her way home soon.
Hope it finds its way back home! I am sure it is missed.
Just like any pet…
I had a tortoise as a pet when I was little and it liked to burrow its way out of our yard. I don’t recall if it finally escaped or my parents gave it to someone better suited to tortoise management. We’ve had other turtles wander through our backyards in the years since – all have seemed intent on going somewhere for some purpose known only to them. They go seemingly heedless of the dangers ahead and we’ve plucked a few out of the middle of roads and – in one memorable incident – out of the middle of a freeway in Tennessee. Lovable creatures nonetheless. 😄
That’s what I was thinking, that Mary the tortoise may have dug herself out of wherever and escaped. Plucking a turtle from the middle of a freeway, yikes! Sounds dangerous to me. I love that you had a pet tortoise as a child. I always wanted one of those turtles from the five-and-dime. My mom, wisely, did not buy one.
A “wandering” tortoise played a key role in an episode of the Kiwi TV program “Brokenwood Mysteries” we watched recently. The critter mostly sat and ate leaves while on camera, but in the script, it did wander. Amazing.
Thanks for sharing your tortoise story of tortoise TV fame.
If you get an update I would love to know if it was ever found! I needed this laugh today, thanks!
The sign was still up today. I probably never will learn whether Mary arrived safely home. Glad I made you laugh.
That is very interesting that a tortoise could go missing…interesting to think about for sure! It must have snuck out at night…and taken all night to get anywhere…HA
Ha ha. They don’t move too quickly.
This and ‘tortoise management” are lots of smiles. Thank you. That’s a SSM directory phone number. Maybe Mary is at the falls under the Arch Jeff Jarvis is always mentioning, swear I’m going to see yet this year. Shared this with several turtle lovers who are always rescuing when they get stuck on their backs. Mary is probably half way across Deaf School athletic field.
I haven’t spotted her at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf, where I’ve been walking in recent days, doing my vestibular rehab exercises. I liked that “turtle management” term also.
Awe, poor Mary! I Hope she is found safe and sound.
Me, too. Signs were still up yesterday.