'Willy' The Tortoise, On The Run For A Month, Back Home With Owner

[matcom]

<snip>

RIDGEVILLE, S.C. --Willy the tortoise made a break for freedom -- well, break may be too strong a word. It was more like a slow crawl. But after a month on the lam, the 40-pound tortoise with a 2-foot-wide, gold-colored shell is back in the wading pool at his owner's home.

Kellie Copeland-Burnup reported the tortoise escaped about July 1.

A local emergency medical services technician spotted Willy on Sunday along a rural road about five miles away. During six weeks on the run, Willy averaged .005 mph, well short of a new land speed record.

The tortoise is now inside a chain-link dog kennel in Copeland-Burnup's back yard although she knows he is capable of digging under a fence.

"I'll be keeping an eye on him," Copeland-Burnup said.

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2006/08/22/willy_the_tortoise_comes_home?mode=PF

[GoddessOfGuinness]

1. I can't help wondering...

Was Willy captive bred/born, or was he kidnapped from his home?