Tony the Tortoise

Turns out that our house guest for 20 hours is named Tony. His owner has had him since she was eight years old and no, he's not our Parnelli. She got him as a kid in SoCal and has since moved to Campbell.
The neighborhood where I found him has some sort of e-mail network and we found each other. She was in Chicago on her way to Michigan and I guess the tortoise sitter left the gate open. She was very thankful that I took Tony in and gave him a good place to hang out. I put him back in his own back yard today and made sure the gate was securely latched.
He repaid my hospitality by taking a crap on our patio and munching about a quarter of my impatiens. Even if a 40 year old tortoise doesn't have manners, it was great having him here. He was very cool. I relived part of my childhood with the desert tortoise and I did a solid for someone I've never met. All good.

Foster Mother!

I am now the foster mother of a desert tortise. I saw him cruising down the sidewalk when I was coming home from the office today. A man stopped behind me and I asked if it was his - nope. We took turns keeping him out of the street and knocking on neighbor's doors. No one knew where he belonged and none would take him in. So... I put the rug I keep in the car for Lucy on the floor of the front seat and he chilled out until I got him home. One of the neighbors gave him three large romaine leaves, which he powered through. I gave him some squash, which he seemed to like.
Funny thing is, we had two tortises when I was a kid. Noah (turned out to be female), we had for many years. He built his home in a mound of dirt and hibernated there every winter. Parnelli Jonah came along later. So named, because he was so fast. Both of our tortises escaped about 35 years ago or so when my folks had the pool put in. The builders took down part of the fence and put up some wire. Our beloved pets escaped during that project and we figured that someone picked them up and took them home.
Now years later, I know this isn't Noah, but it COULD be Parnelli. I wonder if this is our tortise? The neighbors around where I found him have my cell number and I'll look for the owner, but I think my family wants to keep him. If we can't find his family, he may become an addition to ours.
Lucy doesn't like him much, but Laura is trying to get her to be used to him.