As lost pets go, the large bruiser of a tortoise found wandering in the Kentwood neighbourhood of Red Deer was easy to round up.
He didn’t attempt a slow-motion getaway.
“He was barely moving,” said Marty MacPhee, who was shocked to find the sizable reptile in an alley behind Kershaw Close on Wednesday evening.
MacPhee was driving with his friend Josh Collette to get a bite to eat at about 8:45 p.m. when “my buddy spotted him in an alley. It was like right out of a movie. He hit the brakes, saying, ‘That’s a turtle!’ ”
The two men jumped out of the car to take a closer look, and noticed the tortoise had a bumpy shell with raised ridges down the middle.
“He looked like a stegosaurus. He was kind of crazy looking.”
The reptile didn’t kick up a fuss when he was carried to MacPhee’s nearby house and left in the fenced backyard. The animal was described as “very nice. Very calm and mild.”
It took a bit of muscle to lift him, though — MacPhee estimates the ungainly tortoise weighs about 14 kg (30 pounds).
MacPhee and his friend began knocking on doors in the neighbourhood in an unsuccessful attempt to find its owner.
When asked if they were missing a giant tortoise, “most people thought it was a joke,” admitted MacPhee.
MacPhee’s girlfriend also notified the SPCA about finding the lost reptile.
It was this notification that led to the pet — which was being kept overnight in a large box in MacPhee’s garage with a good supply of water and lettuce — being reunited on Thursday with its owner, Jason Doyle, who lives at the other end of Kershaw Close.
MacPhee said Doyle told him the strong tortoise broke through the gate of his backyard fence on Wednesday to make his getaway. “I think he was happy to get it back.”
The Sulcata tortoise is native to the southern edge of the Sahara desert in northern Africa.
It’s the third largest tortoise species in the world and the largest not found on an island.
At full-grown, it’s 60 to 75 cm (24 to 30 inches) in length, and generally weighs about 50 kg (110 pounds) — but has been known to hit 90 kg (200 pounds).
Sulcata tortoises can be legally kept as pets.
Dan Anstey, owner of Red Deer Reptiles and Such, said they make good companions but require special care, such as heat lamps and vitamin supplements.
“They are generally easy to maintain” — although people may need to give up a room of their house to the tortoise as the creature grows.
According to online information, Sulcata tortoises live to be about 50 years old. Anstey said they should be willed to another family member if they outlive the owner.
lmichelin@www.reddeeradvocate.com