Packed upwards with hay and lettuce in a tea towel, Flash the Tortoise just loves his adventures in Snowdonia. He'due south climbed mountains, visited Snowdon's Watkin Pools and kayaked to the Lonely Tree on the shores of Llyn Padarn, Llanberis.

For owner Stephen Moran, the lilliputian tortoise is the perfect companion when exploring the national park. His but concern is when Wink lives up to his name.

"You have to continue your eye on him all the time," said the fifty-twelvemonth-old Arriva bus driver. "He'due south pretty quick and tin disappear in an instant.

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"Walking in the Ogwen valley this calendar week, I placed him on a rock while I grabbed a bottle of water from my haversack. I turned around and he was gone.

"It took me four or five minutes to notice him – he'd gone under a heather bush. I was panicking for a bit equally in that location were cliffs with a steep drop nearby."

Stephen has forged a strong bond with Flash, helping him to cope with the loss of his mother

Stephen has forged a stiff bond with Wink, helping him to cope with the loss of his female parent

As Wink has become something of a master escapologist, Stephen has considered getting a lead. "But he's nevertheless a fleck too immature and small," he said. "Maybe when he'southward a fleck older."

In the past four months, Flash has made effectually twenty trips to Snowdonia – and the occasional trip out to Wepre Park nigh Stephen's domicile in Queensferry, Deeside. Originally from Liverpool, he moved to Flintshire with partner Natalie Whittaker in early on 2020 later on the death of his female parent.

She had kept a tortoise, a source of childhood fascination for Stephen. When she died, the 73-year-erstwhile reptile passed to his sis, prompting Stephen to get another as a memento of his mum.

Walking with tortoises - will it ever catch on? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Wink, a Spur-thighed "Greek" tortoise, has helped Stephen cope with his loss. "Walking by myself in the mountains has been a great escape for me since Mum died," he said.

"It's the only place I tin actually be on my own. Coming to terms with my mother'south loss was a struggle at first simply being out in the mountains you tin really get away from it all.

"Flash is the platonic companion. I've taken my domestic dog, Molly, with me and while she'due south actually placid, you ever have to keep her on a lead when livestock are around. With Flash, I can just put him in my backpack and become where I like."

Stephen carries Flash in a backpack, supplied with hay and lettuce, and lets him have a walkaround when he stops for breaks

Stephen carries Flash in a haversack, supplied with hay and lettuce, and lets him have a walkaround when he stops for breaks

Not that life with Flash is completely problem free. When he climbs Snowdonia'due south hills, the tortoise remains tucked in his tea towel in Stephen'southward haversack – or carried in a shoebox if the day is particularly warm. He's allowed a trivial walk around when Stephen stops for a break.

"If you go into one of the sometime quarries, you've got to be really conscientious," he said. "There are lots of cracks and crevices and if Wink goes downwards i of those, you'll never see him again.

"Ofttimes it depends on the temperature. On colder days in the mountains, I don't let him out at all, but if information technology'south warmer, he likes a walk. I like a laid-dorsum lifestyle and he reflects that."

Flash has a head of heights

Flash has a head of heights

Whenever Wink makes an advent, he turns heads. Other walkers, said Stephen, tend to be fascinated. A few pose for selfies.

As Greek tortoises can live for 125 years, possibly longer, Stephen is aware he is likely to exist outlived past Flash. As the tortoise gets older, his escapology skills will only increase, and Stephen has been considering potential solutions.

One emerged this week. To stop her Russian tortoise fleeing from her garden, a psychology student from Sheffield, South Yorkshire, has begun tying a yellow, helium-filled balloon to her slow-moving Houdini. When she posted a video on TikTok this week, information technology amassed more than 82,000 views and 12,000 likes.

Stephen said: "Natalie and I are going kayaking on Llyn Padarn again today, to visit the Lonely Tree. Wink will be coming too. When we go kayaking, commonly I tuck him betwixt my legs.

"Maybe I should tie a bright red airship to him?" he quipped. "Merely in case he falls in. That way he tin float AND be easily spotted."

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