Vonu the tortoise can’t talk but his actions speak louder than words to his loving owner Erica Makofka.
She is convinced he was excited to see her when collected Friday morning from a nearby home after being missing since Sunday: “He peed on me.”
Vonu's head was tucked into his shell but when she spoke to him, his head emerged. ”He knew who I was.”
Her hard-shelled buddy disappeared Sunday afternoon from the family’s Metchosin property next to the Olympic View Golf Glub. He found an escape route and went under the aluminum fence.
Makofka was hopeful he would be found. This wasn’t his first escape. He likes to hunt for dandelions and can move surprisingly quickly.
A message came in Thursday night from a home 500 metres away on another street.
The other home has a chicken coop which sends out an alert if an intruder appears. In this case, Vonu set off the alarm and was discovered.
Makofka was surprised Vonu was active in the dark, when he normally sleeps.
He spent the night safely in a bin and was reunited with Makofka shortly after 9 a.m. Friday.
Once home, she hand-fed him strawberries, his favourite treat. Then he settled in for a long sleep, something he would not typically do during the daytime when he is alert and moving.
Makofka thinks that Vonu trundled across a golf course — each of their homes borders a different section — and onto the other property.
She laughs about seeing the story of her missing tortoise being shared by news media across the country.
Vonu is now well-known in the neighbourhood, she said.
“I want to thank everyone who was keeping an eye out,” Makofka said. “It was nice to have that many people concerned about him.”
As for the future, a big rock will be installed to block his escape route and Makofka vows to be on the alert.
“Hopefully it won’t happen again.”
