• Font Size    
E-mail

Close Window E-mail This Page

Tortoise Captured After Third Escape Attempt

Required fields are marked with an asterisk(*)

The information you provide will be used only to send the requested e-mail and will not be used to send any other e-mail communications. Read more in our Privacy Policy

Send E-mail

   Print     Share +   
Dec 8, 2007 4:49 pm US/Pacific

Tortoise Captured After Third Escape Attempt

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (CBS) ― Willy the tortoise has been captured after making a third dash for freedom.

Make that a crawl for freedom.

Riverside County authorities say the 200-pound African tortoise got out of his yard in Rubidoux on Thursday -- maybe through an open gate. He plodded about a half-mile before a neighbor corralled him.

Willy was taken to a shelter and his family recognized him when his photo showed up on the county animal control Web site.

Willy's owners, Shelley and Robbie Larsen, say he's skipped the yard three times in the past 11 years. The tortoise fit in the palm of a hand when they bought him but now he's a bathtub-sized bulldozer who can knock down tables.

They love him anyway. Robbie Larsen says Willy is a family heirloom who will outlive his grandchildren.

(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.