A runaway tortoise named Bowser who escaped from his house Tuesday, July 30, is back home after Portland police officers discovered the renegade reptile while conducting an outreach mission on a multi-use path.
According to a press release, Portland officers assigned to the East Precinct Neighborhood Response Team conducting an outreach mission to reach homeless individuals living on the multi-use path along the west side of Interstate 205 found the tortoise at approximately 10 a.m. Thursday, Aug. 1, according to a news release. Officers were notifying homeless community memes about the upcoming heat wave and providing them resource information and handing out bottled water when they spotted the tortoise just north of Southeast Flavel Street.
The officers called Multnomah County Animal Control after determining the animal may have been a truant pet, and an animal control officer identified the fugitive as Bowser, whose owners reported him missing from the 9700 block of Southeast Claybourne Street two days earlier.
According to the release, the animal control officer contacted the “grateful owner,” who picked up Bowser from the Multnomah County Animal Shelter.
“It’s not clear where Bowser has been for the past 2 days, or how he traversed the interstate freeway, but PPB is gratified that he is safe and sound and back home with his family,” according to the news release.
According to Google Maps, however, an intelligent tortoise, following the trail of least resistance, could have hopped on a trail near his house and followed it down, under two I-205 overpasses, until it connected with the multi-use trail on the opposite side of the highway, approximately half a mile away.
