When a pet runs away it can be a traumatic experience. A small neighborhood instantly transforms into a vast landscape of places they could go. Sometimes there are happy endings. For the Manuela family and their lost tortoise, theirs did too. However, it took 30 years. Stephen Messenger at The Dodo has more.
Flash forward 30 years to 2013. Almeida’s grandfather had recently passed away, and her family gathered at her mom’s childhood home to sort through his possessions.
Almeida’s grandfather had left behind a very cluttered attic, and as the the room was cleared and his things moved out for sorting, someone noticed something odd. There, in the box of an old wooden speaker, was a tortoise whom they recognized.
“We were shocked!” Almeida told The Dodo. “My mom arrived crying because she didn't believe it. They found Manuela!”
The Dodo
Messenger's reporting further goes on to state that Manuela seems to have kept itself alive by eating termite larvae in the attic. Even now, he is still alive, has grown a lot, and is doing great. A happy ending, three decades in the making.