Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have never posted to this forum but though you guys might like to hear Billy's story. I gave Billy to my daughter's fiance 2 years ago as a 2 inch hatchling. As you can see he has grown tremendously! I put my tortoises on the lawn under a wire covered enclosure and when Billy comes to visit he stays with them. Eric - his owner- likes to let him out to roam bigger areas and on August 15, he got distracted while Billy was out and Billy wandered off. Eric of course felt awful. We live on 20 acres, mostly irrigated pasture. Our neighbor has 25 acres, also very green. I had left a message at the neighbor's, telling him to watch for Billy, but his sons did not hear the message and found Billy under their riding lawn mower on the second day gone. Not knowing what he was exactly (they have a large pond on their property and frequently find large red eared sliders) they took him out to the pond. When I questioned them, they said they didn't put him in the pond but near it. They said when they left him he was walking back toward the house. My husband and I searched their whole property for hours with no luck. Truth is we could have passed within a foot of him and not seen him in the grass and other growth. Days and weeks went by with many hours searching. I never drove down the driveway or by the neighbors property without scanning for Billy. I knew he could survive with no problem as the weather was nice and there certainly was plenty of food for him, but as the days went by I got increasingly worried that he had gone back to the pond or fell into an irrigation ditch, both of which he could not have gotten out of. I also worried that if someone found him, they would just keep him even thought I had posted reward posters for him in the area. Small miracle - on Sept 9 my husband and I were outside showing horses to potential buyers when we saw Billy walking across a road by our barn, heading toward our house. It was 2:30 on a 95 degree day, so I was very shocked to see him out moving about. I had thought that on hot days in the afternoon, he would be hiding in the shade, as were my tortoises on the lawn. When I told this story to a reptile shop owner, she suggested that he had heard us talking in the area (for about a half hour) and that brought him out into the open. Whatever the reason, we were thrilled to find him, safe and looking like he had never left, after almost a month missing and many acres of traveling.

I love a happy ending!
-----
DeeCee

Wow this is a very touching story indeed. Seems Billy is very smart and you guys are very lucky. Congrats on a very happy ending for all. He looks great.
-----
Anja Buffalo
Crotalus & Company
Venom-Center
Wisconsin Reptiles Site
Free PC Inspection

Good story!! He was having a good ole time running around!!