03/30/2025
Charlie went missing on Thursday when his mom went to pick him up from the clinic after being neutered. She put his carrier down, next to the car, while she opened the car door, and Charlie suddenly got a burst of energy and busted through the carrier door! They saw the direction that he headed, but he was determined to keep going. The clinic tried contacting me, but my phone was on silent (sometimes I just need a couple of hours of peace!). By the time I saw the missed call and text they had already contacted Sabrina Bates for help. Where she lives, as well as where she works, there are many feral cats, so she bought a couple of traps and learned how to do TNR to take care of her problem. (Yay!! I wish more people would be this responsible and do it themselves instead of hoping others will do it for them!). Sabrina came and put out a trap. The next morning, the trap was checked and she'd caught a cat, but not Charlie. But, the cat went in to the clinic and got neutered anyway. I got in touch with Sabrina to find out if she wanted to continue with the rescue of Charlie, or did she want me to step in (I live less than 10 minutes from the clinic -- she's over 30 minutes away). She asked that I take over. So, I went to put out a camera and feeding station where I usually do in that area -- the woods that connect to the cemetery. Only this time, there were bulldozers and big equipment making a lot of noise as the cemetery was expanding. Yikes! I doubted that Charlie would have hung around there. But I put a camera out, hoping. (2 foxes and a raccoon were all that showed up that night). But, if he wasn't there in the woods, where would he be? There's a zillion cars in the area (tow yards, used car sales, car repairs). Great hiding places! Or did he go to the neighborhood across the street? I decided that I would need Flynn's help with this case. So, Flynn and I met with the owners this morning, and after getting attention from his new friends, Flynn was ready to work. He picked up on Charlie's path of escape, and then stopped for a bit at a gate/fence of one of the businesses. So, we went back to the car and drove a street over to see if he could pick up scent there. Nothing. So, if Charlie went in the fenced area, he didn't leave via the other side of the property. So, we came back and started in a different spot, where he picked up scent again. He was VERY interested in a used car lot. But, we stopped the track because if Charlie was there, we didn't want to push him out. So, we continued with a perimeter check. We crossed to the neighborhood, and again, Flynn picked up scent from the street down along a wooden fence and then to a different section of woods. Okay. This is where we need a camera. Just a week or two prior, I'd been in the exact location due to a sighting of a dog who was lost in the area, and the Service Dept. at Shirley Slack Auto had seen the dog and was more than happy to allow us to put out a camera and feeding station. So, I checked with them again, and, again, they were more than happy to allow us to set up in order to get a lost pet home. I ran home and got another camera (I wanted to move the first one closer to the clinic) and set it along with a big can of mackerel. Then, I headed to the original section of woods to pull the camera to move it to the clinic property. Well, my phone was giving me camera notifications. I assumed it was pictures of me setting up the feeding station. But, when I looked, it was Charlie!! Less than 1 hour from the time Flynn said "here"! So, I ran home and got a trap and set it. I figured Charlie wouldn't be back for several hours -- he'd eaten about 1/3 of the big can of Mackerel! But it was a1 hour and 40 minutes later that he showed up! And he went right into the trap! Woo Hoo! Flynn for the win!! Less than 3 hours after the track! Trust me, it usually doesn't happen this quickly! Welcome home, Charlie!!