Waiting
for the first sunny days in March is an anxious time for us as we are watching
for the awakening of Toby our pet tortoise from hibernation. This period
can be crucial in the life of any tortoise but Toby seems to have got it right
as this year we celebrate 52 years of his companionship. Toby has lived
with four generations of one family in four different counties in England and
Wales.
When I purchased my very first pet in 1948, I was a little girl of ten years old. I never thought the day would come when possibly "he" might outlive me. I had five shillings pocket money in my hand and had fallen in love with a tortoise of considerable size in the pet shop which I passed on a regular basis to and from school.
Toby was put into a box and I carried him safely home via a number 41 red double decker bus. (I was in London) I wanted to know his age so went along to the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA). They couldn’t tell me exactly how old he was but "something over fifty" was the expression they used.
I was an only child and had lost my Dad during the war. I was passionate about animals. Mother worked and had rightly stated on many occasions "it was just not fair to leave an animal alone all day." Surely she wouldn’t mind a tortoise.!!
On one occasion he was missing, we couldn’t find him in any of his usual places. I was very upset. The garden was secure or so we thought, so where could he be. I pinned a "Lost Tortoise" sign to the front gate and fortunately a lady found him walking in the road, she’d picked him up and taken him home, then whilst out shopping she happened to see the notice and so he was returned. We were both so grateful.
After I’d married and had children we moved from Essex to Suffolk to a house with a much bigger garden and even more exciting things for a tortoise to eat like strawberries and raspberries. The soft fruit garden became his speciality and one year it was noticed that the ripening tips of the strawberries were being bitten off either by something or someone. Was it Toby? No, it couldn’t be. Mother decided to cage the strawberries in to protect them....from the birds, so she thought!! Several days later the question was asked, "Has anyone seen Toby?" The answer was no and so a search began but he was nowhere to be found. At last Mother made the suggestion that we should look under the cage amidst the strawberries and there, sure enough was Toby, caged in with the strawberries, having a wonderful time and wondering what all the fuss was about.
Living in the country I could now have all the pets I had longed for as a child. Two dogs, a cat, guinea pigs and two rabbits joined Toby, but he remained special. As my eight year old explained to everyone, "Mummy had him when she was a little girl"..........
After the very cold winter of 1966 Toby gave us another anxious time, he went to sleep as usual and woke up as usual but when he awoke there was a film over his eyes and when he began to move he walked around in circles. We realised he couldn’t see, the winter temperatures had gone well below what his body could cope with and this was the result. So plenty of bathing in warm water, bathing his eyes, and feeding him by hand and plenty of tender loving care restored him to his usual self and by July he was out and about in the garden again.
Recognition. We were all very interested at that time in Blue Peter and Fred the tortoise and the children wrote their story of Toby to Blue Peter and in 1970 were awarded Blue Peter Badges.
By now Toby had become very special indeed and rather than leave him behind when visiting or going on holiday we decided to take him with us. He has caravanned and stayed in bed and breakfast establishments and not once have we been questioned about the cardboard box we were carrying upstairs, rather late at night. On many occasions he has drawn quite an audience especially when the dogs are in the car and we are feeding and exercising Toby the tortoise on a grass verge somewhere.
When we moved from Suffolk to Sussex he was in hibernation and we entrusted him to the care of the removal men. They were wonderful and promised to drive carefully, possibly because I told them he was well.
Coming up to retirement age ourselves we decided to move to Wales, but what about Toby. How would he adjust to a different climate, shorter summers and a much wetter atmosphere. Would he survive? The answer to that question is yes, he has survived and has lived in Wales now for seven years. It is different though, his body clock is the same but as the outside forces are not compatible for him, for about two months indoors we have a house trained tortoise! Many children and even some adults around here have never seen a live tortoise and he has proved to be a very good topic of conversation.
His one and only visit to the Vets was not for medical reasons but to show them a reptile they had only ever seen in books.
Our grandson is now fourteen years of age and has promised to look after Toby when the time comes. Last year Ben wanted to see Chepstow Castle. Toby was with us. Grandad and Ben went off up to the castle and I sat on the grass below the castle with Toby. The sun was shining and there were a lot of visitors. "Ooh! look, there’s a tortoise," "Ooh! look, there’s a tortoise." When the two of them returned I was surrounded by about twenty people of several nationalities wanting to hold Toby and asking questions about him.
He has passed his Golden Anniversary with us, ...... never mind the life before....... We celebrated with his favourite food, strawberries.
The Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) in one of its’ booklets, Tortoises and Terrapins, is quoted as saying, "The RSPCA is opposed to the keeping of pets which have been imported from foreign lands, particularly as they come from warm or hot climates". I can understand this because at the time tortoises were being transported under awful conditions but I do not in anyway regret my purchase. Toby has been the most interesting and rewarding pet I have ever had the privilege of looking after. Although perhaps not a record we certainly feel a sense of achievement at keeping him well and healthy for so long and we look forward to many more years of Toby’s company.