23/02/2025
Welcome Home Mika!
Back on Sunday, February 9th, when most people were gearing up for Super Bowl parties, Karl experienced one of the worst things that could happen...... his new rescue, Mika, ran out the front door, in Mt. Arlington, NJ when someone was walking in.
They were unable to get him and soon had reports he was running further from home and then ultimately into the Berkshire Wildlife Management Area. A densely wooded area with abundant wildlife such as Coyote, Bear, and Bobcat.
We set a feeding station up in the woods where some footprints, that were believed to be Mikas, were found. Two days had gone by....but no Mika.
Late afternoon, Wednesday, frantic calls were coming in that Mika was running up and down busy Interstate Route 80. It was confirmed by a photograph that thankfully, Mika had made it safely across and was in the woods on the opposite side.
By early Thursday morning, the Roxbury Police were calling Karl because Mika was now sitting on the side of Rt. 46 in Roxbury, about 5 miles from where he was seen last on Wednesday afternoon. They tried to apprehend him but he ran much too fast and disappeared around the corner. USAR Drone Team came out and checked the entire mountain where it was thought Mika ran into. Only a few deer were seen, no Mika.
For another day and a 1/2, we hiked and hung more posters in the new area.
Saturday brought a snow and ice storm to the area which increased our concern for his safety. Mika didn't seem to mind the bad weather as he ran for hours between town houses, developments and through shopping malls. Calls were coming in from the parking lot of Shoprite and Home Depot that Mika was running around. Every time we got there, it seemed we were just one step behind. We followed footprints through neighborhoods but still could not find him.
We found a location that it seemed he had been to a few times so we set a trap and waited. Again, he never showed.
Surprisingly, days later, and another five or so miles away, another frantic call came in stating Mika was now running around Rt. 10 in Randolph.
With a few more sightings coming in, USAR Drone Team was brought in again. Mika just seemed to disappear, despite staying out 5 hours searching with the drone.
Based on talking with people in the neighborhood, we found a location to set a feeding station and pretty quickly, Mika was there eating the food. A trap was set. For a third time, Mika pulled a no show. Another sighting let us know that he was still in the area.
A second feeding station was set at a house on the other side of the neighborhood. Mika kept walking past it, but not stopping.
Down the road in the Randolph Industrial Center, we received several calls about him being in the woods. A trap was quickly brought over and set up. An hour passed and a car was leaving the Industrial Center and stopped halfway out the driveway. It turns out Mika was headed to the trap when the car went by and caused him to run back into the woods. Within about fifteen minutes, Mika was now showing back up at our second feeding station. The trap was quickly moved up to that location. Once again, we sat all night in a snow storm waiting for him to come back and he never did.
Finally, friday morning around 9:30am, all the bad weather had passed and the sun was shining. Mika showed up at the trap. He circled around to the back and smelled the food. He went right to the front opening, entered it and successfully stepped on the trigger plate, closing the door. Mika's 12 day adventure was over!!
After securing him in the car, i decided to follow his footprints in the newly fallen snow from the night before and found that he had been hungering down inside a home that was under construction. He entered through the basement and then had free run of the entire house. This fully explained all behavior for the days we had been looking for him in Randolph. He had been doing things a little differently than most lost dogs and we had to know why. Well we had our answer, during the night time, Mika would go into the construction house when the workers left for the day. Just before the workers arrived in the morning, he would leave there and go to the woods in the Industrial Park where it was nice and quiet. Mika is a very smart dog!!
I want to give the ultimate thank you to the homeowner on High Street in randolph for allowing us the use of his property to set the trap that caught Mika. He was extremely generous with his property and his time as he walked the neighborhood often, looking for him. Another big thank you to Sue, the Roxbury Animal Control Officer. She was the one who reached out to me for help locating Mika. She put me in touch with Karl, Mika's owner and kept in touch with me every day. She provided us with helpful information that we may not have gotten had she not been there for us. She was able to secure us permission to check properties that we would never have been allowed on. Thank you to Gianna, the Hopatcong Animal Control Officer. It just so happened. She was up on Rt. 80 when Mika was crossing. She provided needed information to us. She was also out other times looking for him when there were sightings in her areas. Thank you to Christina and Sonny from Randolph Animal Control. Besides being in touch every day, offering any help that we might need and being available overnight hours if we needed, they were available to respond immediately when Mika was trapped. They sat with him at the trap and secured the area until Mika's owner and myself could arrive soon after. I am very thankful to have friends like this ❤️
I'd also like to thank my sister Tina and Tara for coming out and hiking in the ice and snow with me when needed. Tara lives in Roxbury, where Mika was running. She kept a constant grill with food going all night long in the cold weather in hopes of luring Mika there to capture him in her yard.
The many posters we had between Mt. Arlington, Roxbury and Randolph did not get hung by themselves. We had an amazing group to help us do this task. Denise, Carol and Rocky, thank you so much for going out all hours and in all weather, to make sure the posters were hung. Thank you to Heidi and Don Culbertson for printing all the high quality posters.
Without posters, it is very hard to get sightings. Which, of course, is key to identifying where a lost dog might be. Your time and generosity is greatly appreciated ❤️
And I have to say thank you to all the families in Mt. Arlington, Roxbury and Randolph that took the time to call in when they saw him crossing the highway or in the woods in their backyard. Thank you to those that allowed us to set up cameras on your properties. This definitely cannot be done alone. There were literally hundreds of people out there looking, and reporting his whereabouts.
Mika's owner Karl was amazing. He was there every day and every night! He never gave up! He fought through cold, hunger and tiredness. I am thankful to have been paired with him during this search.
We truly appreciate everything that everyone brought to the table.
Welcome Home Mika!
