Reg

Meet Reg, the latest addition to the Gladders' household. We have formally adopted him, and will now be his registered keepers. We were a bit nervous yesterday when Dr & Mrs D and their 3 children came to have a look at us and the garden. They needed to be satisfied he was coming to a good home. I tidied up the garden and blocked all the possible escape routes, and Wifie baked a very good cake. A suitable impression was made, and now Reg is living with us.

Reg used to live in London, and spent most of 6 years indoors with a heat lamp to keep him warm. His keepers were fearful of putting him outside because of the urban foxes that live in the garden. When his main keeper went off to University, it was felt that Reg should have a chance to have a life outdoors in the Spring and Summer. He was transported to Cumbria, and Dr D and family moved him into their garden with their two tortoises. All was well at first, but then Reg showed that he had attitude. Despite being smaller than the two resident males, Reg started asserting himself, and blood was drawn. The hope was that hibernation might change his pugnacious spirit, but a few weeks back Reg emerged from his winter sleep in fighting mood, and it became clear that he preferred human company to that of other tortoises. So a new home had to be found, and here he is.

Sorry to have been a bit of a tease these last two nights, though I must say I was genuinely anxious that we would not be deemed acceptable as new keepers.

By the way, Reg is 10 years old and he is a Hermann's Tortoise (Testudo hermanii). He's not fully grown yet and if looked after well, there is every chance he will see me out, if not Wifie too. His species comes from southern Europe. He is a captive bred animal with all the necessary paperwork, as it is illegal to import live tortoises.

ps All the Cairngorm backblips are now on, starting last Saturday.