It’s a love story as old as time: Tortoise meets domed drain cover; tortoise loses domed drain cover. But on the plus side, a Fresno, California woman, Nancy Knauss, is happy to have her pet home safe again. The 100-year-old tortoise named “Touche” (Touché!) escaped earlier this month when gardeners left the gate open. Knauss, who has had Touche for almost 55 years, put out an ad on Craigslist fearing she would never see her beloved pet ever again.
Incredibly, a good samaritan happened to have seen the ad and Touche was returned to Knauss safely, but the incredible thing is where she was found. In the approximate week and a half Touche was missing, she managed to travel a whopping six and a half miles from her home, or an average of 11 football fields per day.
When Touche was discovered, she was attempting to make sweet, sweet tortoise love to the aforementioned domed drain cover, which she had apparently grown an attachment to. 100-year-old ladies have to take what they can get, okay? Touche’s owner was ecstatic to see her pet again, telling CBS Los Angeles, “There’s a lot of bad in our world right now, but there are a lot of very good people that care.”
A happy ending for all. Except Touche, who might have to wait another 100 years before she finds another good man/domed drain cover.