Lost Cat

[JPSAXNC]

Someone from Idaho must have been visiting Northern California and lost there cat. We lived near where the Western 100 and Tevis cup are held. We we taking a dirt back road over to visit some friends, there were no houses around there. And we see an orange cat on the side of the road I stop and my wife opens the door, and the cat jumps in. We had our two dogs with us and there was no problem between the dogs and the cat. The cat was heading over the Sierras, we were planning on leaving for Idaho in two weeks. After our visit we went home. The cat stayed right in the yard with the two dogs, happy and content for two weeks. We all loaded up and headed for Boise, as soon as we got in our friends driveway in Boise and opened the door, the cat was off like a shot running North at top speed, it knew it was home or close to it.

[airgunaut]

ONLY one lost pet?

We get escapees and dumped pets many times every year. They've mauled or killed calves, sheep, goats, poultry, other people's pets...you name it. The dogs that pack up are the most dangerous. I'll take the truly wild animals any day over those. The cats aren't a theat to humans or livestock but become a real nuisance despite individual (and legal) eradication by some.

And then there are the dumped dead animals.

[JPSAXNC]

The thing is this cat somehow knew that we were going to take it hundreds of miles home when we picked it up, and hung out two weeks with us until we did. I have no doubt what so ever.

[Sqrl Klr]

James cool story. Hope a wild animal didn't kill it before it got back home to ruin the happy ending.

Pat the wild dogs are why I pack heat every time I walk outside. Glad I had it on me when a raging pit bull showed up in my yard barking and growling at me, otherwise all I'd had on me was my knife. I can't count the times numerous dogs ran onto my property hunting something to kill and me out there with the gun to scare them away with the thunder wondering what would've happened without the thunder to scare them away from me. Have I mentioned I love guns?

[airgunaut]

James, I can believe that. Both domestic and wild animals sometimes show an eerie knowledge about individual humans' motivations.

[airgunaut]

Gil, I totally get it. You don't know what might charge out from some places, not necessarily just wild lands, either, and it's smart to be prepared, within what laws allow.

But...that's as far as I'm taking this convo on this forum. Even though we are not discussing airguns in this context.

[HunterWhite]

That story would make a great children’s book.
I read a story about a dog that went with family to California (iirc) and was separated from the family. They had to go back home without their dog. Weeks later the dog came running into the yard. The dog was tired, hungry, pads on feet badly damaged from running on pavement, but happy to be with family.

Hunter

[Blowpipe Sam]

As a park ranger I have a lot of lost pet stories.  One of my favorites happened twenty years ago at Anastasia state park.  I was driving through the (huge) campground in a golf cart when I encountered a very old cocker spaniel ambling slowly along the park drive.  I pulled up and asked her if she wanted to go for a ride.  The dog climbed happily up unto the bench seat and we proceeded at a slow pace to tour the campground loops.  She acted perfectly comfortable with me. As we approached one campsite she barked. So I slowed down and she hopped out.  An older couple looked up from the picnic table in surprise.  She waddled over to them with her tail wagging.  They hadn’t realized she had wandered off.  They thanked me for returning her and promised to keep her on a leash.
That dog was utterly confident that I would take her home.  Don’t know how she knew it but she recognized me as someone who would help.

[Back_Roads]

 At the end of the workday yesterday we got a text to be on the lookout for a neighbors newly acquired rescue dog.  Within 15 minutes it was found wandering in one of the orchards and promptly returned. Dog may have only been lost 1/2 hour, quick response by the owner helped for sure.