Owner Comes Home to Ransacked House All Caused by Tiny Tortoise
Ever feel too small or slow to take on a given task? Ever think to yourself, “There’s not enough coffee in the world to help me make a dent in this mountain of house/project/yard/paperwork?”
Then this is the story for you. It proves that size and speed have nothing to do with power and potency.
It also shows that you should never underestimate a feisty reptile left to his own devices. But more on that in a second.
Meet Lafayette, who’s a turtle. More properly, Lafayette is a rescue tortoise living in Hawaii with his adoptive “dad,” Jeremiah Osuna.
Turtle, tortoise, terrapin. What’s really the difference, anyway?
Well, britannica.com says that all tortoises are turtles, but not the other way around. Turtles live in the water almost all the time, while tortoises dwell on land.
Diffen.com adds that most tortoises are generally pretty shy and quiet. But Lafayette is a sulcata tortoise, and that apparently makes a meaningful difference.
According to a video posted on YouTube, Lafayette was saved from damaging Hawaiian lava flows back in the spring of 2018. That’s when he came to live with Osuna.
Reptilesmagazine.com says that the sulcate tortoise, otherwise known as the African spurred tortoise, is one of the most popular in the pet world. The publication also points to this creature’s “hardiness in captivity,” and its “outgoing and animated personality.”
Lafayette seems to demonstrate these characteristics in spades. Maybe that’s why a recent Rumble video has gone viral so rapidly.
In a nutshell, the short snippet shows one truly ticked-off tortoise. Osuna stepped out for a brief period of time, and Lafayette took it upon himself to trash the whole residence.
Osuna captures the chaos on camera as he walks back in. He mentions that Lafayette has shown some mischievous tendencies before, but this time the dude really went on a rampage.
Chairs have been moved around. A fan has fallen flat on the floor. Tables and drawers have been upended. A computer has been smashed to pieces.
And that doesn’t even begin to cover the situation in the bedroom. That area looks like the aftermath of a mini-monsoon.
Surveying the damage, a good-natured Osuna breaks into helpless laughter. It’s tough to imagine that a roommate so low-to-the-ground could inflict this degree of destruction.
Interestingly, diffen.com also points out that the average tortoise lifespan ranges from 80 to 150 years. In fact, the site actually indicates that the longest-living tortoise is 326 years old.
So it sounds like that easygoing sense of humor is going to serve Osuna very well. It also looks like he’s going to need a way bigger dustpan.
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