This evening I went to drop off some dog food for a friend who collects it to give to homeless people with dogs. The customers in my shop who say "keep the change" seem to like that charity idea, it's called Hearthounds by the way.
Anyhow, as I chucked the 12.5kg sack into the friend's porch, I noticed one of her little tortoises was right under where it would land. "Agh!" But too late, the whole sack was on him, balanced on one corner so he was carrying all the weight. He's only a little tortoise, maybe 8 inches long at the most.
Quick as I could, I grabbed the sack and moved it off him and my friend appeared through the door just in time to scoop him up and move him to one side out of my way.
Damned good job tortoises have a thick skin and can shrug these things off .....
A few years ago another friend who runs a boarding cattery lost a tortoise she'd been asked to care for only for it to turn up under the kitchen table being gnawed at by her Pointer. It went home scratched but otherwise fine by all accounts.
Any other tortoise near death experiences out there?