Luna, a Jack Russell Terrier who evaded capture for more than a month as concerns for the dog’s survival grew ahead of winter in Yellowstone National Park, was caught in a live trap Wednesday and reunited with her owners.
The 10-year-old dog had been seen crossing intersections, wandering through employee housing and entering lodges through automatic doors in the sprawling national park that is home to grizzly bears, wolves and other predators.
Katie Boucher, the volunteer leading the rescue effort and a spokeswoman for the dog’s California owners, said she found Luna in the trap baited with remains of a T-shirt and pillowcase belonging to the family. Boucher took Luna to a veterinarian, who examined her Wednesday afternoon.
“She’s underweight, but that’s normal. She’s alert and in good spirits,” Boucher said. “I was crying from the park.”
Luna escaped from her family’s cabin on September 10. Boucher said the dog spent her first year on the streets before being adopted and showed strong survival instincts during her time in the wild.
An escape into nature
The day Luna went missing, the family left her in their cabin with a “Do Not Disturb” sign while they ventured out to explore the park. In what they believe to be an accident, housekeeping opened the bedroom door and Luna broke free.
“Staff then chased her around that area of the park for over two hours before the owners returned and discovered all the chaos and their dog missing,” Boucher said.
Yellowstone was America’s first national park and covers approximately 3,500 square miles including parts of Wyoming, Montana and Idaho.
Luna’s family searched for their dog, but were told the white terrier was likely dead, possibly killed by a coyote, Boucher said. A few days after leaving Yellowstone, the owners were notified that Luna had been spotted and contacted Boucher, president of the Norris Ark Training and Recovery Center in Norris, Montana, north of the national park.
“I can’t imagine how I would feel if I had taken the vacation of a lifetime and sought out all these memorable experiences in one of the most beautiful places in the world and lost a family member there,” Boucher said.
Boucher followed Luna’s sightings and said the dog had retraced her family’s footsteps the day before she was lost, sneaking into restaurants or lodges they had visited.
Locals and tourists shouted Luna’s name or chased her, triggering her fight-or-flight response and pushing her further into the park, Boucher said. Volunteers set up a live trap using the family’s scent to attract Luna, avoiding food that could attract bears or other wildlife.
Time is running out as winter approaches
Boucher said this was the last week she could have searched for Luna, as the approach of colder weather could potentially limit the length of her stay in the park. She was sleeping in an RV park for seasonal employees that closes next Monday.
The search rallied locals and tourists. Marie Jaskula, an area resident who manages one of the park’s general stores, posted signs at each park entrance urging visitors to be on the lookout for the small dog in the park located primarily in northwest Wyoming and parts of Montana and Idaho.
“It’s really hard to stress the importance of not chasing,” Jaskula said. “Everyone sees this little dog buzzing at the intersection or maybe around their employee housing, and the first instinct is to call her name and chase her.”
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