Normally, tortoises are pictured as moving really slowly, but one backyard pet in the suburbs left that idea in the dust.
After an adventure outside his yard, the escape artist named “Flip-Flop” is back home safe for the second time.
“He had an opportunity. He took it and yes, that’s trouble,” owner Peter Ichinose said.
Ichinose said he is making sure his almost 20-year-old pet tortoise won’t get out for a third time, having already escaped twice last week.
“He got out somehow. He actually broke the lock,” Ichinose said.
The first time happened on Thursday. Ichinose said he wasn’t home, but a neighbor spotted the tortoise and called the police.
“There were a lot of squad cars. A lot of neighbors. A lot of people taking pictures,” he said.
The Arlington Heights Police Department posted on their Facebook page about their efforts to find Flip-Flop. They found him chomping on a peach tree.
Arlington Heights police returned him within hours. The second escape, however, took a little bit longer for him to be returned.”
“Friday, I had an errand to run in downtown Chicago, and my wife got home and said, ‘Where’s the tortoise?” He got out again. I don’t know how. I still haven’t figured it out,” Ichinose said.
He and his wife posted on social media, asking if anyone had seen their turtle. They looked everywhere for the next two days, posting flyers in the neighborhood.
Then they got a call from a landscaper on Sunday morning.
“He picked it up. I’m very happy he picked it up because you don’t want it walking in the street. A car could hit him. Saturday, I think he found the signs that we posted all over the place. Got our phone number, called us Sunday morning. We’re like, hallelujah,” Ichinose said.
He said the whole ordeal has restored his faith in humanity.
“Everyone was so nice and helpful. So in a way, for me at least, that was kinda nice. It was a good feeling,” he said.
Ichinose said he is creating a third barrier so the Flip-Flop can’t get out for a third time.
