The 80-year-old specimen, weighing 1.7 kilos, left its burrow at 12:30 PM in the garden of the MeteoBanyoles Observatory. The animal had been buried since last October under a laurel tree where it has lived since the 1960s, emerging with soil still clinging to its shell after five months of hibernation.
“"This year the emergence has been significantly earlier than the historical average and represents an absolute record."
According to data collected since 2010, the average emergence date for Bonica is around March 10th. This year's early start is directly attributed to the warm weather, as this February was the third warmest in Banyoles since records began in 1950.
