The six-year-old is a natural-born escape artist, so his latest disappearing act came as no surprise to his owners when he vanished from home for several months.
But the 10-month mystery finally came to an end last week when photos of the missing turtle surfaced on the Bishopdale Community Group.
Owner Christina Gane was shocked to come across the Facebook post as she was not expecting to reunite with him again, especially since she posted about his escape last November.
Houdini’s sunbathing privileges are now revoked, she said, after he flipped over the paddling pool he was in shortly before his daring escape last year.
“I was quite shocked, I couldn’t believe it. We’d given up hope after 10 months,” said Gane.
“Turtles are a lot faster than you think.”
Gane presumed Houdini had spent the last few months in hibernation before he “decided to come out again”, and was spotted walking across the road just metres from her neighbour’s house.
The “cheeky” red-eared slider was a known escape artist with a mind of his own and was “smarter” than initially perceived.
Her children’s grandmother adopted him when he was a hatchling six years ago. He was known for escaping the pond for weeks at a time or finding comfort hiding under the bed.
He was named after famous illusionist and stunt performer Harry Houdini, known for his sensational escape acts, who died in 1926 due to a ruptured appendix.
“We just want to say a big thank you to Alex for posting about him on Facebook. Had he not done so, I don’t think we would ever have reunited with him,” Gane said.
“It was quite a miracle.”
