Tortoise, 98, Goes on the Run From Teenage Owner

Story ByMichael Leidig, Sub EditorJoseph GolderAgencyCentral European News

An elderly tortoise who survived being run over by a mechanical lawn cleaner after burying herself in the ground has gone on the run from her teenage owner.

Fideel, who at 98 is just over a year away from celebrating her hundredth birthday, is owned by 18-year-old Jodie, who put her in the garden, but forgot to shut the gate properly.

She said she was easy to identify because her shell had to be fixed with a special cement after she was run over by a lawn scarifier after burying herself in the ground. The scarifier is a mechanical device that ariates the soil and removes dead grass and moss.

The adventurous tortoise, who apparently spends a lot of her time trying to get out of the garden, discovered the gate was open, and vanished. She was last seen heading in the direction of a local fort, and from there her owner believes she made it into the nearby woods and has probably buried herself.

The teenager, who lives in the Amsterdam in the municipality of Wilrijk in Belgium, said her tortoise was last seen being photographed by a group of hikers.

Neighbours have now been involved in helping the teenager look for the missing tortoise. She said Fideel, despite having a male name, was actually female.

She said this was because it was difficult to identify the sex of turtles when they are born, and Fideel had been wrongly classified as male and had simply kept the name when her owners realised their mistake.

She added: “I am really worried about her. I don’t know where she is and you don’t know what might be in the woods that can harm her.”

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