A 50-pound sulcata tortoise from Missouri, named Liam, has finally returned home after an adventurous nine-day escapade, much to the relief of her worried family and community.
Liam, who is 13 years old, embarked on a remarkable journey covering 1.8 miles. Her path took her through creeks, construction sites, and dense foliage before she was eventually discovered in a nearby development. This heartwarming tale was shared by her owner, Liz Wheelihan Friese, on Facebook.
Upon her homecoming on June 3, Liam appeared content and relieved to be back in familiar surroundings. Friese recounted that the tortoise indulged in a well-deserved bath and devoured a large head of lettuce freshly picked from the garden. Soon after, Liam retired to her cozy indoor enclosure, dubbed the “tort court.”
Expressing gratitude, Friese wrote, “We can’t thank everyone enough for working so hard to find our girl and get her home safely!” The community’s efforts to reunite Liam with her family underscore the power of collective action and concern for our animal companions.
“We can’t thank everyone enough for working so hard to find our girl and get her home safely!!!!”
Friese said the heavy rains made it easy for Liam to break out of her enclosure.
Liam is recognizable because her shell scutes — the hard, typically geometric scales that form a protective layer of a turtle or tortoise shell — are not uniform, and she has a dent on the side of her shell due to her previous owner’s neglect.
She weighs 50 pounds, the Friese family told FOX4KC.
Friese told KVS12 that she was grateful Liam could bring people together.
“Talk about bringing people together that a little rescue tortoise with a screwy shell could bring so many people,” she said.