Lost tortoise goes on adventure
Escape Artist
Karen Peterson
Although he admits he has a reptile phobia, Linderman Principal Tim Finkbeiner cautiously holds the tortoise during its visit to the school.
Karen Peterson
Abner feasts on greens and dandelions.
Karen Peterson
Abner visits with Linderman Elementary School students.
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
Karen Peterson
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On a warm Sunday afternoon, Abner escaped. The gate was left open and he saw his chance for an adventure.
When a pet disappears, it’s usually a dog, sometimes a cat, but this time, it was a tortoise — not to be confused with a turtle — and police were involved.
Wanda Heintz first got Abner as a baby tortoise five years ago when he was about the size of a half dollar. She fed him fresh fruit, bathed him, made sure he got exercise, and he grew.
Abner weighs about 17 pounds with a hard shell and soft leathery skin. He is bigger than half a basketball but smaller than a car tire.
On Sunday, Heintz was busy doing yard work, going in and out of her gate, mowing thick spring grass, and the latch on the gate didn’t get closed. Abner was supposed to be in the yard enjoying a fresh bouquet of dandelions for lunch.
Heintz turned off her lawnmower and checked her phone messages. A friend messaged her and said they saw a lost tortoise on Facebook in her area, but Abner was in the yard with the dandelions, so it couldn’t be her tortoise.
She ran around the yard searching for him, and sure enough, he was gone. With tears starting to stream down her face, she ran down the block to look for him. She was nervous. He could get stolen or run over by a car.
As a tortoise, Abner couldn’t outrun other four-legged creatures like a dog, but he is faster than a snail. After escaping the yard, he booked it down the road and was nowhere to be found.
A few blocks away, Staci Hanson was driving her car. Her daughter started yelling that there was a “turtle” on the road. The two stopped and tried to get him to move off the road, many cars were driving by, but he was on a mission, going straight down the center of the road, so they picked him up and took him to their home.
Hanson wasn’t sure what to do about the tortoise. She posted the “lost turtle” incident on Facebook saying she found a turtle on a specific street. She was quickly corrected about his species.
“He is bigger than a cat,” she reported.
Heintz found the Facebook post after someone directed her to it while she was running around the neighborhood looking for him. She was relieved. He was in a yard down the road.
But, he wasn’t in Hanson’s yard anymore when Heintz contacted her. Hanson decided that calling the police about the tortoise was the best option.
Polson Police Officer Becky McClintock was notified about the tortoise, so she got a small box to pick him up. When she got to Hanson’s yard, she saw that the tortoise wasn’t going to fit in the box, so she put him in the back seat of her patrol car.
It was her intention to go to a local vet and see if the tortoise had a microchip implant to identify his owner. In route to the vet’s office, Officer McClintock received an emergency call, so Abner safely rode in the car for about an hour while she responded to the incident.
Heintz finally tracked Abner down at the police station. When she arrived, two officers were taking him for a walk. She was never so happy to see him.
Abner made it back home and went back to eating dandelions in the yard, but now, thanks to Facebook, he was famous around town, and people wanted to see him. Linderman Elementary School teacher Darcie Laud heard about the “escape artist” and asked if Abner could visit her class.
On Wednesday, he was the center of attention with about 90 students in one class watching to see what he would do. He munched on a few lettuce leaves and walked around the room. The kids took turns touching his shell.
Kaidence Plant, 8, did a bit of research on the visitor before he arrived. She learned that a tortoise is much bigger than a turtle. Shahea Hunter, 8, added that the tortoise is adorable, and Mackinzi Bartel, 7, thinks the natural pattern and bumpy texture of his shell is very cool.
Abner made his way outside the classroom. But as he escaped, this time, children were following him. Principal Tim Finkbeiner took a deep breath as he saw the land-dwelling reptile walking down the hallway.
Principal Finkbeiner has a phobia of reptiles. He said that he has jumped out of airplanes and faced other dangerous situations, but something about reptiles doesn’t sit well, and the students know about the phobia, so they waited to see what he would do.
“I knew the kids were watching,” he said.
In an effort to set a good example about facing fears, he stood next to the tortoise with his heart pounding, and gently picked Abner up, and the kids cheered.
A tortoise can live for more than 100 years, so there is no telling what adventures not-so-little Abner might have next.
