Perhaps you heard us…it was 6:43am when we had Buckley in our clutches and the elated screaming of 10 people had to have traveled for miles…sorry if we woke you up on this fine Sunday morning!
I have a photo album for you of Buckley’s reunion with her owners Amy and Mark, plus her sister Journey…which is who actually brought Buckley in. I’ve captioned them for you, but here is a brief timeline (based on the call history on my phone because it was fast and furious out there in those final moments):
We arrived just before dawn at 5:52am and everyone was already out with their flashlights getting into their positions. Based on Buckley’s tracks to and from the dump and the closest source of water, along with the info Amy had been given as to her recent habits, we had a pretty good idea of what areas needed the visual coverage of the 10 people in the search party.
Amy called me at 6:22am to say that Buckley had been spotted, but she bolted (which was, of course, very upsetting)…but at least we knew she was in the area – so a step in the right direction.
Maureen and I were walking the perimeter of the landfill and stopping every 50 feet or so to scan the ravines with our binoculars when Maureen got Buckley in her sights. I told her I thought it was a plastic bag, but was thrilled to be wrong because indeed, she was crouching between some bushes watching Chad and his dog standing on a nearby hill.
Maureen locked her sights on Buckley while I called Amy (it was now 6:27am) and they made their way over to where we were. Amy was able to get pretty close to her, but Buckley didn’t seem to recognize her and bolted again (imagine how that must have felt).
So we just kept watching her until Mark arrived with Journey (they were stationed further away)…and their arrival definitely got Buckley’s attention and interest. It was probably a full minute before she was sure that she recognized her sister, after which she came right down off her hill toward Journey and into Mark’s grip.
It was 6:43am and the pictures pick it up from there! #WelcomeHomeBuckley!
