Runaway tortoise found three miles away from home a month later

By Adam Dutton

A missing tortoise which escaped from its garden one month ago has been found THREE miles away - after going on the run at 0.0041mph.

Matilda, a 10-year-old Hermann's tortoise, managed to scale a courgette plant to pull off her daring escape and slow getaway in early July.

She then managed to negotiate several neighbors' fences, dodge cars while crossing a road as well as a stream in the Leicestershire countryside.

Owner Sallyanne Brooksbank, 55, said she'd given up hope of seeing Matilda again after a month without any sightings.

But the tiny runaway reptile, which is barely the size of a saucer, was discovered in a field by walkers last week and handed into a local shop.

Mom-of-three Sallyanne then spotted her missing tortoise on Facebook when the shopkeeper posted about the discovery online.

Delighted Sallyanne has now been reunited with her beloved pet and says it was a "miracle" she survived after travelling the impressive distance.

Sallyanne, of Wymondham, Leics., who is the director of an online interior business, said: "She must have had quite an adventure.

"We were distraught when she went missing. We searched the garden over and over, but I thought we'd never see her again.

"Now she's back we've all got a massive smile on our faces."

Sallyanne believes her tortoise headed in the direction of the nearby village of Sewstern, somehow surviving busy roads and water crossings.

She added: "We wish she could speak because we'd love to know how far she got.

"She's not very agile, but I think she may have climbed up a courgette stalk to get out of the garden.

"We didn’t see her for a few days and that’s when we realized she was gone.

“It’s a wooden raised bed that is on tarmac, about a foot off the ground. It’s full of courgette and bean plants.

"She has tiny claws and we think she clawed up the stem of the plants.

"It’s dug out to make sure she can’t get out, so she either climbed or just jumped out of it.

"She then headed off in the direction of Sewstern.

"We've been trying to work out her route, but it has to have been through several fences, across fields, a ditch, a road, a stream and who knows what else.

"She would’ve definitely crossed roads and dodged cars - she could’ve been attacked by badgers or foxes."

The family doesn't know who found their cherished pet, but they hope to eventually track them down and thank them.

Sallyanne added: "She could have been attacked or squashed by a car - but she seems fine.

"If anything, she might have grown a bit.

"There are no marks on her shell, and she gobbled up the food we gave her.

"She seems happy to be home, and I know we are happy to have her back.

"We bought her for my son Rory when he was 12-years-old back in September 2013.

"She was a hatchling and only the size of a 50p piece, she was tiny.

"She still is really, she is smaller than my hands. She only weighs 300g, it’s not like she’s a massive tortoise.

“The people who picked her up were on a walk and they were walking towards Sewsterns when they spotted her. It's amazing they saw her really.

"We'd love to find them really to say thank you.

"I'm very nervous about leaving her out at night now. She's proved to be very adventurous indeed."

Clothes shop owner David Howley, who was handed Matilda by the walkers, said: “It was on the edge of a field about a mile away, just on a path.

"The young girl thought she was going to tread on it as it was well hidden. She put it in her t-shirt and brought it here.

“The grandmother is one of our customers - I think they’ve parked here and gone on a few miles-long walk. They asked if I had a box.

“They were going back to Hertfordshire that evening and I said we’d take care of it.

"She was found at around 4.15pm and we put it on Facebook. Then the owners were in touch by 8.30pm

“She had a mark on her and they described it perfectly, they lived around three miles away so she had moved like a rocket."