Marley escaped her new home on Dec. 18 by darting out of the door when the 5 year old human opened the door to head out for school. They contacted us on the 19th. Because she continued to come back to the house, we suggested making a chum trail of rotisserie chicken from the yard and into the house, explaining where to end the trail and what the humans should and should not be doing. Well, she came in the house, but was so quick that she got out before they could shut the door. Someone from the rescue that they got her from came down with a trap, but it was too small for her (you have to take their length when the stretch into consideration. "She will fit in it" is not good enough!), and it shut early and scared her. So, on Christmas Eve, Laura and I took the Missy to them. This was in King George, which we generally don't go to because it's such a distance that we can't be "back up" for dealing with the trap and we can't respond in a timely manner if something gets trapped. But, since the chum trail didn't work, and the box trap didn't work, they needed the Missy. And the dog came from a rescue that we've dealt with many times. So.... We set the Missy, showed them how everything on it worked (they helped set it, too! --This family was a dream to work with! They followed our instructions to a T!). At first, we thought that Marley stopped coming for a couple of days, but when we pulled our videos we saw that she was coming but was taking a wide berth around the trap. The family's cameras showed that she was also going to their backyard to get to the woods, so we decided to take our 72" box trap out and set it in the backyard. She'd approach the box trap, and eat the food that was outside of it, but wouldn't go in. And she was making progress at the Missy -- eating what was outside, then starting to go in bit by bit. On Dec. 30, Marley finally went all of the way into the Missy! So, on Dec. 31, New Year's Eve, the traps were set to be active. And then th
This one took a village! Mylo is safe after a 16 day adventure! With no sightings except for his first day missing, we were starting to wonder what had happened. Then, we got a sighting! Mylo had appeared at a house for the last 2 days, eating food that was being left out for wild rabbits. The children had a Blink camera to watch the rabbits eat, and they saw Mylo! Terri headed over with a camera and set up a feeding station. A few hours later, Mylo showed up! It was still early in the evening, and the snow had not started, so Melissa headed over with a trap. But Mylo's tummy was full for the time being, and then the snow started. The home owner bungeed the trap open (so that we would not have to drive in the bad weather) for the night. Mylo returned in the middle of the night and ate, so we were confident that he'd be back the next night. So, Terri went back yesterday and replenished the food in the trap and set it. About 4 1/2 hours later, Mylo showed up! After circling the trap several times, he finally went in and was trapped. But, the second round of snow was going on, and with it being dark, the roads were icy. And the road that the house was on had not yet been plowed (and neither had mine). So, we contacted Spotsylvania Animal Control and they were able to respond and pick him up and take him to the shelter, where it was warm and dry. The home owner stood by making sure that he stayed calm in the trap, and covered the top of the trap to keep the snow off of him. Thank you, Megan!! And thank you to Spotsy Animal Control! And way to go Terri! Thank you for braving the weather for this guy!
Good grief, what a day! What should have been a quick trap turned out to be an all-day affair, thanks to uncooperative traps! Uma was lost at the Welcome Center on I-95 on Dec. 22. The owner finally talked to us yesterday (she'd been contacted by a scammer, wanting money to pay for the vet bill because he said he found Uma and she was injured) so she was wary about anyone offering to help. But, I told her that we don't charge (although donations are appreciated but not required), and I would keep her apprised of everything. Well, 5 1/2 hours after putting up the camera, we saw Uma. So we put out a trap, but bungeed it open thanks to the family of raccoons who also found the feeding station. All of today was filled with missing her by a few minutes, uncooperative trap, bird closing the trap, pit bull investigating the trap....ugh! Terri and I traded off doing "stakeouts" just because of the potential problems. And at about 9:45 this evening, she showed up and went into the cooperative trap! I put her (in the trap) in my car and rubbed her head. She was soooo glad to be trapped! Needless to say, the owner is thrilled! They had been back twice, searching for her (they live in Pennsylvania), but to no avail. We entered the picture on day 10, and had her within a day and a half!
Here's the view from the Arlo camera, which is placed inside the trap. You can see a corner of the "target" (a piece of wood with reflective tape on it) in the bottom left corner of the video. What you can't see (because of the camera angle) is that directly across from it is a Ray Tripper -- think a cat's laser pointer. It's powered by being connected with long wires to a motorcycle battery. Then, the wires are connected to a heavy-duty magnet that holds the door open. When the beam of light is "broken", it cuts the power, releasing the magnet on the door. The door swung faster when we tested it -- she almost got there before it shut! Laura usually puts something (a flowerpot, a cinderblock...) in the trap near the door in order to add something to slow the dog down, but we decided not to this time because this dog didn't trust ANYTHING, and it was taking days to acclimate her to every little change.
Keegan is home after an 8 day adventure! We generally don't contact people offering our assistance, simply because there are so many lost pets, and we have such crazy hours, that we wait for owners (or Animal Control) to contact us. We simply can't work 24/7 week after week. But this one got to me: 1) because it's a golden, and 2) the owner seemed to be doing all of the wrong things (which people on social media were suggesting). And I couldn't understand why they had not contacted us -- so many people suggested that they do! Well, I messaged the owner, and her immediate response was "what can you do for me, and how much will it cost"? Legitimate questions, but not what we normally get (other than the price -- we don't charge!!). Well, after talking for 2 minutes I understood -- she had several scammers contact her. One wanted $5,000!!!! And tried to lay a guilt trip on her when she said no!
So, once we got passed that, we were smooth sailing. There had been 2 sightings at the same house, although a few days apart. That's where we wanted to start. The home owner was more than happy to let us set up a camera and feeding station on his property, and ultimately a trap if needed. So, we put food and a camera out, sprayed with liquid smoke, and headed home. And 3 hours later, who showed up? Keegan!! So we waited for him to eat and leave, and then we headed over to set the trap. I called the owner to tell her the plan -- she and her husband had met at Home Depot and were about to head home. I asked if she'd bring a scent item, so, in the middle of the Home Depot parking lot she tells him to take off his shirt. She didn't say why -- she was too excited at the fact that the dog had shown up already! I wish I was a customer in the parking lot, watching this man take his shirt off in the nearly freezing temps, not knowing why, but obeying his obviously excited wife! After asking her to make a McDonald's run, too, I hung up the phone. But, I do know that she
UPDATE: The pup was microchipped! She's been missing since the Spring. The owner (80 years old) travels between New York and South Carolina rather frequently, and she got lost on one of the trips. We don't know any other details at this point, but the owner is contemplating whether or not to reclaim her -- at 80 years of age, a large dog is difficult to handle. Hopefully, it will work out for what's best for the dog.
A week ago today, AC deputy Lussier contacted us about a black lab mix that was wandering in Sheraton Hills east, but they were not able to capture her. The owners of the property where she kept returning to were incredibly nice, and allowed us to set a trap and camera. We got her on camera for 3 days, but she never stepped into the trap...not even a paw. So, we pulled the trap, and then all 3 of us (Melissa, Laura, Terri) met there to set the Missy trap. We were happy -- the ground was perfectly level, so we didn't have to do any "landscaping" in order for the door to swing smoothly. There was no tall grass to pull in order to keep the movement from tripping the camera, and not limbs to trim. It was the easiest setup we've ever done! And when we tested the door, all 3 latches connected! Perfection! And then the darn dog didn't show up for 3 days.... *sigh*. I've been taking my phone with me to bed, and had it on silent. But, every time I woke up, I would check. (We have cameras out for 3 different cases right now). At 4:30 this morning, she showed up and went in the trap to eat! Yay! So, I thought about the gameplan for the day -- we have to go and set another camera for another dog, so what to do first??? I let my dogs out, and gave them 1/2 of their breakfast so that they would let me go back to bed. At 7:00 my animals wanted me up, so I got up and checked the phone -- she was there!!! So I threw clothes on and headed out the door to set the trap. I called Laura, so she got dressed and ran out of the house (without feeding her do
Finally! A 1 day only on a weekend trapping! That means that since Laura didn't have to work today, she could handle this case without me! And the dog is small enough that I didn't have to go out at 1:30/2:30 (the time change...) to help her load her into her car!! AC asked for our help with this little girl who we think may have been dumped, based on her behavior. For a few days she's been seen running along and in the middle of a busy 2-lane country road. Several people tried to capture her but she would run into the woods. Laura headed out with a trap this morning and saw her when she arrived. Of course someone else also saw her and stopped to try and catch her....ugh! She set the trap, and then on the other side of the road, a feeding station. Of course, she crossed the road and found the feeding station, and ate her fill. Then she went and took a nap. Sigh. Laura moved the trap to where the feeding station was and waited. After a couple of hours she went home to wait. Finally, at 2:14 a.m. (actually 1:14 because of the time change) she walked right into the trap! Yay!! She'll stay in Laura's garage for the rest of the night and then go to the shelter in the morning. Congrats, Laura! And thank you for letting me just be a spectator so I can get over this Covid crap!
Remember the video from last Saturday morning when the dog bumped his head on the trap door, causing it to shut? Well, later that afternoon we moved to a new location, set up the 72" trap (it's taller and longer than the 60") AND we set the Missy trap about 20 feet away from the box trap. Well, he showed up at the box trap that night, but would not go in further than his front paws. We didn't see him at the Missy trap until Tuesday night! But, he went in the Missy! Last night, he came back and went in all of the way, so this evening, we armed the trap. He'd been showing up at around 6:30, 11:00 p.m., and 3:30 a.m. We prayed he'd show up early. And he did! After 12 days, Yahtzee is safe!
