woolymonkey | tortoise seasonal update

Like the weather, Speedy has suddenly decided it's winter. He was still (relatively) running about until yesterday, though he clearly had plans because he stopped eating several weeks ago. Now all I can see is the very top of his shell. Normally slowing and digging down is a much more gradual process, though I suppose it'll be a few more days before he disappears altogether--or he might even still pop back out if we get a warm day.

He's pretty much in the usual place, though less under the roots of my sickly magnolia, which must be good. He liked the nice loose area where I recently dug and added compost.

A glance back at the tortoise tag confirms his bedtime has been mid-late October ever since we moved to Cambridge. Before that, I didn't keep a record, though I used to put him in a box in the shed as per Blue Peter Procedure. I seem to have been pretty sure he wouldn't sleep before November. Maybe the difference between nippy Siberian East Anglia and the balmy Surrey Hills?