From the Guardian:
It is an unusual romance, to say the least. He is made of flesh, blood and shell while she is constructed entirely out of plastic.
But after years of heartache, Timmy the tortoise seems to have found some sort of comfort by teaming up with Tanya the plastic toy tortoise.
Timmy, a Hermann's tortoise (Testudo hermanni), appears to dote on Tanya night and day since the pair were brought together by keepers at the sanctuary where he lives after he was "bullied" by other real tortoises.
The sprightly 60-year-old fetches her food (and does not seem to mind that she does not eat it) and nuzzles his head against hers. He will not go to bed unless she is put into his hut before him.
Surely one of the sweetest stories I've read in a while. Wouldn't it be lovely if Timmy found a live turtle sweetie? Although the way he dotes on Tanya, perhaps he wouldn't take to a live lady turtle. He may prefer the quiet type.
Thanks to Cathy for the link.
UPDATE:Thanks to Lapin for the link to a video of Timmy and Tanya.
Sadly sweet.
ReplyDeleteThere's a video of the tortoise and her chum here.
ReplyDeleteAwww again. Thanks, Lapin.
ReplyDeleteI like his little face. He looks a bit sad, like all tortoises.
ReplyDeleteHe may prefer the quiet type indeed - well of course some people might rate this a very successful relationship, for that very reason :-)
Awwwwwww. Thanks Mimi!!
Tanya's facial expression is a little perkier.
ReplyDeleteI daresay a good many males would not be averse to quiet types.
Oh, Mimi! I love your 'daresays.' So calm, so wicked!
ReplyDeleteWicked? Moi?
ReplyDeleteWell, I'm impressed her mouth isn't shaped as it would be in the Homo sapiens equivalent! ;-O
ReplyDeleteHave you seen this one?
ReplyDeleteAnd the companions are both animate.
I spared you the Korean guy who married his pillow.
JCF??? Sometimes I'm dense.
ReplyDeleteWilfried, I've seen the sweet elephant and dog video and the Korean pillow guy. Thanks for sparing me. :-)
I'm sure the Korean pillow guy has already featured on Wounded Bird.
ReplyDeleteCathy, I don't think so. I did a quick search of my posts, and I didn't find the Korean pillow guy, but I remember reading about him.
ReplyDeleteNo, here it is:
ReplyDeletehttp://thewoundedbird.blogspot.com/2010/03/korean-man-marries-pillow.html
I remember it because I commented that it was sweet.
Hoisted on my own petard!
ReplyDeleteI have a long memory for weird and not particularly useful stuff, I guess.
ReplyDeleteCathy, you do. Blogger's search function is crap. I should have used Google. Of course, I rarely use labels for my posts, which would surely be a help in a Blogger search.
ReplyDeleteDrat. I hate being redundant.
ReplyDeletePoor redundant Wilfried. Sorry about that, m'dear.
ReplyDelete