After nearly two weeks on the lam, Smuggler the tortoise has returned home.

The 9-pound desert tortoise escaped from his home in northeast Bismarck on 35th Street between Rosser and Divide avenues on June 26. Smuggler has been in Jill Fischer's family for more than 30 years and sleeps in a cement cave. Fischer built a small fence out of landscaping rocks to keep her pet in, but he must have found a way over the fence, she said.

"He could have taken a tumble over the edge, shook it off and thought, 'Freedom!'" she theorized.

Amanda Lynn Moser, who works at Credit Collections Bureau on Rosser Avenue near 35th Street, said Fischer had stopped in last week to ask people to be on the lookout for the tortoise.

Around 2 p.m. Tuesday, employees saw Bismarck Police Officer Brandon Rask and others moving a tortoise out of the road and toward a ditch. Jared Olson, who also works at the collections agency, carried the animal back to the business, and other employees found Fischer's number and called her.

Rask, coincidentally, also located a lost wallaroo south of Bismarck in July 2006 while off-duty.

"Today, we collected dollars and tortoises," Moser joked.

Fischer happened to be at home sick for the first time in about 15 years and was able to take the call. Her husband went to the business and collected their pet.

When Smuggler got home, they fed him in the kitchen, and he promptly fell asleep. The tortoise was not harmed during his adventure, though he returned a little muddier than he left.

"He's fine," Fischer said. "I bet he probably ate every Canadian thistle out there he could find."

Fischer went to Credit Collections Bureau later and thanked the employees.

"Oh my God - I owe you girls the world," she told the women working in the front of the business.

On a return visit to Credit Collections Bureau, Smuggler quickly took to exploring the office, eventually wedging his greenish-gray body between a chair and a wall.

Fischer said she plans to bring a cookie platter back to the business as a reward.

Smuggler's disappearance attracted quite a bit of attention, including an article in the Tribune. Fischer said she received at least 50 calls and numerous e-mails from people thinking they had found the tortoise.

"You would not believe the number of calls," she said. "There were turtle sightings all over town."

Fischer said she appreciated each call, because she couldn't rule out the possibility her long-time pet made a long trek from home - desert tortoises can go 10 miles a day in their prime, she said. Some calls came in from people who thought they saw Smuggler on Expressway Bridge or Grant Marsh Bridge. Fischer also considered the possibility that Smuggler had been stolen.

Fischer and her family believe Smuggler is about 60 years old. Desert tortoises can live to be 80 to 100 years old, she said. Smuggler joined her family when her father was in a dirt bike race - called the Smuggler Enduro - in California more than 30 years ago. The tortoise kept him company after a wreck, so he brought him home.

The tortoise has been a great pet, Fischer said, noting that Smuggler hibernates from October to March, though this year his deep sleep lasted into May.

Smuggler has taken off from home before, but not while living in the city. Once before he disappeared for three weeks, but that was on Fischer's parents' farm in Dickinson.

Though Smuggler didn't go too far, it's likely he found his way across the railroad tracks during his vacation.

"He's not afraid of anything now," Fischer said.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@bismarcktribune.com.)