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LOGAN — A nearly 130-pound North African Sulcata tortoise "made a run for it" on the streets of downtown Logan Monday. Along the way, he attracted a lot of attention — giving some animal control officers what may have been their most unusual call ever.
Logan Assistant Police Chief Jeff Curtis said officers responded to 200 North and 250 East and located the meandering reptile.
"It was an extremely large turtle," Curtis chuckled. "We have since found out it's 21 years old and weighs in at 125 pounds."
(We) responded on a call of a tortoise on a roadway here. It's not a call we normally get.
–Bryan Lay, animal control officer
Hanging out in his pen Tuesday, Timmy the tortoise kept a pretty low profile. "These tortoises are known for their ability to just keep going," his owner, Curtis Baird, said. "They just keep walking."
That's exactly what Timmy did late Monday afternoon. He was spotted heading up the sidewalk just across from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' Logan temple.
"(We) responded on a call of a tortoise on a roadway here. It's not a call we normally get," said Bryan Lay, one of the three animal control officers who arrived to pick up Timmy.
In 15 years as an animal control officer, Lay said he's never had a call quite like this. "It's the biggest tortoise I've ever seen," he said.
- Also known as Grooved tortoise
- Largest tortoise of the African mainland
- Golden to yellow-brown skin
- Brownish shell
- Maximum weight: 330 lbs.
A group of people kept a close eye on Timmy until officers could get there. In all, he had made it about a block away from his home.
Officers took Timmy to the Logan Zoo, where he stayed until Baird was able to pick him up about an hour later. Baird thinks his reptile friend probably enjoyed the attention.
"He's very sociable," Baird said. "He doesn't have a lot of problems with people, and that. He lets them touch him and pat him on the head."
Baird has nine tortoises, and he says Timmy is the only one to ever escape.
This wasn't Timmy's first escape, either. Baird said the tortoise made "a run for it" once when they lived in Smithfield — but Timmy only made it to a neighbor's house across the street.
Contributing: McKenzie Romero
