Happy ending for tortoise
HE nearly had one foot in the grave, but thanks to his stealth and speed - and a bit of help from The Mercury - Basil the tortoise is back home safe and sound.
HE nearly had one foot in the grave, but thanks to his stealth and speed - and a bit of help from The Mercury - Basil the tortoise is back home safe and sound.
When Jane Taylor of Bradwell found a small tunnel burrowed underneath her garden fence, she was struck with panic as she realised her pet of 35 years had broken his way out.
Worse was to come. She quickly realised Basil - named after Basil Fawlty because of his “fawlty” misaligned
jaw and estimated to be 70 years old - had dug his way into a major building site.
Little did she know that just a few hours after he had made his great escape, her reptilian Houdini had
used his natural hardhat to complete
Most Read
- 1 Sammy, 6, finds 'once-in-a-lifetime' rare fossil on beach
- 2 Bid to extend life of quarry in Broads' village to 85 years
- 3 Man died on 50th birthday at Norfolk coastal campsite
- 4 Six ways Yarmouth wants to solve its housing crisis and 'compete with Norwich'
- 5 Seaside bar taken over for three weeks by Hollywood crew shooting film
- 6 Roadworks will see a Gorleston road closed for three months
- 7 Gorleston murder accused not yet fit to enter plea
- 8 Port boss disappointed over cruise ship non-docking
- 9 Mayor left waiting as cruise ship can not dock at Yarmouth due to winds
- 10 Birthday card plea for 'amazing' Rita who is turning 108
the crossing and covered half a
mile before being recognised as an escapee.
Mother-of-three Jane said: “When I first realised he was gone I was devastated and went out looking for him. I had visions of Basil digging himself a hole on the site and waking up with a building on him!”
Soon word of the escape artist, who
had made his break on Sunday, May
23, spread like wildfire, and dog
walkers were joined by builders
from the site in the hunt for the
tortoise.
And with him still missing on Thursday morning last week, a desperate Jane put in a call to The Mercury.
However, on the day he escaped he had found sanctuary.
Half a mile away and unaware of
the furore, Doll Humphries sat with
her husband David in their garden
on the other side of the village.
Soaking in the sun, she little
expected to see the tortoise with a love of cooked broccoli scuttling across her patio.
The 66-year-old said: “David
spotted him and it was surprising how fast he was moving - he looked like he was really on a mission, and there's
no way he could have got to our
home other than to go across the building site.
“It took a bit of time to corner him, but when we did a neighbour told me about a friend who has a tortoise and who could look after him.”
The friend cared for him until
last Friday - the day Doll spotted
the “Lost tortoise appeal” in The Mercury and promptly got in touch with Jane.
A relieved Jane said: “I cried tears of joy when I saw him. I didn't allow myself to hope I would find him again, and there he was!”
For Basil, first found trudging
along a tractor path in the 1970s
by Jane's late father Charlie Styles,
it is the latest in a series of
adventures.
About 20 years he was found wandering near the A12 by schoolchildren when Jane lived in Gorleston.
She added: “Back then I had my telephone number painted on his shell in nail varnish and they were able to
call me. This time he went out, I really think he was on the lookout for a female.”
