Testudo Hermanni

Salzburg at dusk. The city church bells drown out classical music playing inside a house. Unlike the white winter landscape shown on the calendar hanging on the wall, the Alpine mountains are barely covered in snow. Fields shine with lush greenery, much like the garden surrounding Tony’s summer house. An external thermometer reads 14°C, while the fridge maintains a steady 5°C – ideal for storing fresh cheese, yogurt, milk, and for Tony, hibernating in his leaf-filled vegetable container. A portrait of Tony adorns the fridge door: he’s a 23-year-old tortoise weighing about 1300 grams. This incredibly humorous story explores the relationship between humans and animals, illustrating the consequences of unpredictable climate changes, escalating extreme weather events, and significant temperature fluctuations.

Topics: animals, humans, climate change, temperature changes, human impact on the natural world