Feeling Your Age.......!!

I finally got around to starting our new Tortoise enclosure in the garden earlier today, well until the rain set in.........
I bought the railway sleepers for this project back in november last year. The finished enclosure will be 4mtrs square with the external wall being almost 1mtr high. Once the perimeter wall is complete i can then make a start on the heated living and sleeping compartment, at this point i have some rough plans for this. I aim to have the whole project complete for late April, when hopefully we can move Kinny and Volvi into their new home.

Here are some facts you may like to know about torts........

Tortoises generally have lifespans comparable with those of human beings, and some individuals are known to have lived longer than 150 years. Because of this, they symbolize longevity in some cultures, such as China. The oldest tortoise ever recorded, and one of the oldest individual animals ever recorded, was Tu'i Malila, which was presented to the Tongan royal family by the British explorer Captain Cook shortly after its birth in 1777. Tui Malila remained in the care of the Tongan royal family until its death by natural causes on May 19, 1965. This means that upon its death, Tui Malila was 188 years old. The record for the longest-lived vertebrate is exceeded only by one other, a koi named Hanako whose death on July 17, 1977 ended a 226-year life span.

The Alipore Zoo in India was the home to Adwaita, which zoo officials claimed was the oldest living animal until its death on March 23, 2006. Adwaita was an Aldabra Giant Tortoise brought to India by Lord Wellesley who handed it over to the Alipur Zoological Gardens in 1875 when the zoo was set up. Zoo officials state they have documentation showing that Adwaita was at least 130 years old, but claim that he was over 250 years old.

Harriet was a resident at the Australia Zoo in Queensland from 1987 to her death in 2006, it was believed that she was brought to England by Charles Darwin aboard the Beagle and then on to Australia by John Clements Wickham. Harriet died on June 23, 2006, just shy of her 176th birthday.

Timothy, a spur-thighed tortoise, lived to be approximately 165 years old. For 38 years she was carried as a mascot aboard various ships in Britain's Royal Navy. Then in 1892, at age 53 she retired to the grounds of Powderham Castle in Devon. Up to the time of her death in 2004 she was believed to be the UK's oldest resident.

All this of course means that wifey and i are going to be long gone before our torts move into middle age let alone old age.

I suddenly have a strange feeling that i'm a hell of a lot nearer the end of my alotted time than the begining.....

I definitely need to get on with my list of 100 things to do before i die........

Take care y'all.........

j.