Tortzilla!
Toe-biting Timmy, the tortoise who rules the garden with such ferocity his owners won’t go out
A TERRIFYING beast lurks at the bottom of the French family’s garden.
He’s (quite) fast, furious, and likely to snap at the toes of anyone foolhardy enough to step onto the lawn.
However, this creature is no hulking bogeyman... but a rather angry tortoise named Timmy.
The 12-year- old reptile was taken in a year ago by John French, 37, when he spotted the creature banging against the side of a glass tank in the building he was working in.
He persuaded his wife Steph, 31, to accept the new guest, saying he would only be staying for the summer at their house in Penrith, Cumbria. But, revelling i n his new- f ound f reedom, Timmy developed a fierce territorial streak. He claimed the garden as his own and now aggressively defends it.
He’s so fearsome the family have been f orced to ditch outdoor parties for sons Arran, two, and Leo, four, for fear the tortoise will attack young guests. Mr French, a sports coach, said: ‘Timmy wasn’t too bad for a while until he established the garden was his.
‘He had never had so much space before. He is still quite angry, but he is making up for lost time now. He is absolutely rapid. I would get him a girlfriend but I think he might kill her.’
To make matters worse for Mr French’s long- suffering wife, Timmy is a Hermann’s tortoise, a breed that can live over 100 years.
Mrs French said: ‘When John told me that he was actually living with us on a permanent basis I was not happy at all. John told me that Timmy may live to 100, so we are stuck with him now for life.’
Peace has currently descended as Timmy is hibernating in a box in the garage – and his hosts hope they have tackled the problem for next year by building him his own large pen.