“The cat distribution system” is a TikTok term for how cats sometimes wander into other people’s backyards or stranger’s homes as if they belong there. The “cat distribution system” took on new meaning for one Utah resident, Cecily Bartlett-Wils, when she found someone else’s pet in her backyard — but this time, the animal wasn’t furry.
Bartlett-Wils shared her experience with her unexpected visitor in two TikTok posts. In the first, Bartlett-Wils is seen holding a container of lettuce while barefoot in pajama bottoms and a hoodie sweatshirt. She says she entered her backyard and found a new friend. At first, we can’t see the animal, but one might assume she found a dog, cat, bunny, or some other kind of suburban wildlife — a well-behaved raccoon or squirrel, perhaps?
Meet Tortellini
As Bartlett-Wils explains in her post, a large tortoise appeared in her yard, and she had no idea where it came from. It’s difficult to say what species the tortoise is. But it’s roughly 9-to-15 inches long, meaning her new friend could be a desert tortoise native to Utah, according to USA Human-Wildlife Interactions.
In any case, the tortoise Bartlett-Wils finds in her backyard, which she says she’ll name “Tortellini,” seems friendly and tame but, more importantly, hungry as it eagerly munches Bartlett-Wils lettuce and samples her grass. Bartlett-Wils even scratches Tortellini’s hind end, and it seems he gives a little wiggle, much like a dog or cat. “I want a tortoise so bad! They can feel you rubbing and scratching their shells. 😭,” one comment mentioned.
Throughout Bartlett-Wils fun encounter, though, one question remained: Where did Tortellini come from? “So a few things: tortoises burrow,” one comment said, providing the most likely explanation, “so it’s a possibility he dug out and escaped his owners. I would check local lost pet forums to see if anyone is missing a tortoise. Also make a found post for him,” the comment added.
Tortellini made it home safe
Just as the comment suggested, Tortellini burrowed under his owner’s fence to get into Bartlett-Wils’ backyard, according to a follow-up TikTok. He got home safely, she said. His family, she said, “lives quite literally directly behind us.” Tortellini journeyed home in a laundry basket, and Bartlett-Wils says he’s 14 years old. If he is a desert tortoise, USA Wildlife Interactions says the animals can live as long as 80 years, so Tortellini’s still young. Desert tortoises do, however, reach sexual maturity around 15, so that might explain the wandering.
Some were concerned that Tortellini seemed malnourished, and Bartlett-Wils said she’d keep an eye on him, but as one comment added, “He looks dehydrated but not malnourished. That will happen if he’s been missing for a few days and not had his bath (float). He’s not pyramiding, so he is well taken care of.” Pyramiding is a term for a lumpy tortoise shell caused by issues in their diet.
It’s good the tortoise made it home, but Will Bartlett-Wils ever see Tortellini again? “Petition for a turtle door in the fence,” one comment said. Another added, “The cat distribution system just got confused, Tortoiseshell can sound very misleading. 😂.” And one comment concluded, “We are only finding out now about the Tortoise Distribution System because…well…it takes a little longer to deliver them.”
Published: Oct 16, 2024 01:03 pm