On Trail With Nibi Mocs

Sunday morning, I spent some time on the internet looking for vets, animal shelters, etc. in the area where Pip disappeared. I also found a couple of very useful internet resources for locating missing pets — I’ll post some of what I found in a separate entry. Anyway, all-in-all, I got a late start heading west once again to resume the search.

Arriving at the scene, I once again cruised the area where we last saw him, and then headed over to the nearby creek and beaver pond. No Pip.

Someone had mentioned checking all the culverts in the area. I started doing so but soon came to the conclusion that it was almost as big a task as walking every row of that cornfield would have been. Too big and too time consuming for just one person. I concluded that my time would be better spent getting more fliers distributed — to get more eyes on the lookout. It was frustrating not knowing just how wide an area I had to cover. But, I concentrated to the north and east of the area he went missing — north because that was the way he was heading the last time I saw him, east just in case he was following a homing instinct. I knew the latter was a long shot but had heard plenty of stories. As I was distributing fliers I met many very friendly people who said they’d definitely keep their eyes open.

Around sundown, I headed off to the breeders and spent some time with Scott and Lorrie. Then, Sam and I headed over to the corner of the cornfield once more. I put Pip’s crate, with his blanket and favorite toy inside, just outside the car, had some supper, walked Sam back and forth a few times, set up an air mattress and sleeping bag in the car and settled down for the night. Sam was happy to cuddle up next to me, half in the sleeping bag, half under a blanket. It was a cold, restless night with a short, hard shower in the middle. The dawn was cold but clear.

I drove around the outside of the cornfield and checked the creek and beaver pond one more time before checking in with Lorrie. Still no sign of or word about Pip. My plan for the day was to drive to all the nearby towns, distributing fliers to vets, animal shelters and appropriate businesses in the area. I also wanted to get ads into the local papers and radio stations. I headed towards Windom first.

My cell phone rang as I headed down the road. It was Lorrie. “Larry! Get back here quick! Scott saw Pip out by the dump along the creek! He still won’t come to Scott”.

Making a quick U-turn, I sped northwards, hoping that there wouldn’t be any law enforcement on the way. It still seemed like forever before I got to the track by the cornfield. I pushed the Forester as fast as I dared towards the creek. When I got there, no one was around! But, there was a combine in the cornfield. I flagged it down. “Scott couldn’t stay around but, the last we saw, Pip was heading for the creek.” So, I started searching up and down the creek along with Sam. I noted how comical it could have seemed if there’d been a passerby; grown man, walking along a creek, squeaking a small toy bunny and calling out “Pippy!”. But, there weren’t any passersby and I didn’t care anyway.

Lorrie eventually joined me and filled me in on a few more details. Pip had been spotted bouncing in the alfalfa field, apparently in good shape and seeming to have a good time. When Scott called him, he paused briefly but then trotted off towards the creek and disappeared again. At least she was able to point me towards the part of the creek where he vanished. We discussed that maybe a live trap was needed. She said she’d check with her vet and see if they had one. So, away she went to phone while I continued walking alongside the creek calling for the fugitive.

Lorried came back. Said that her vet didn’t have a trap but suggested a new course of action. Instead of walking along the creek calling, I set Pip’s crate, again with his bunny and some food, near the creek, then moved the car further away, where I could see the crate but giving Pip some comfort space. And then, the wait began.

The sun was getting low when Lorrie showed up again. A concensus had been formed that a live trap was the only way to go. She told me where I could buy one. Reluctant to leave the field in case he showed up again, I headed up the road to the Farm & Fleet in Springfield. Scott helped me set the trap near where I’d left the crate during the day. And, I parked the car back at the point I’d sat throughout the day. Assuming that I’d be spending the night in the car again, I decided to take Sam for a walk before fixing some supper. We walked along the farm track that runs parallel to the creek. I didn’t bother calling this time, afraid that any calling might spook Pip. We walked about a quarter mile down along the creek and then turned back towards the car. Almost back to the car, I heard some cries coming from the direction of the creek. Heading towards the sound I softly called out “Pip?”. A few more cries. I zeroed in on the cries and saw just a little fur partway down the bank. It was about a 3-4 foot, straight down drop to the creek but in I plunged. And found Pip in an undercut. I think that, sometime during the day — maybe in the morning when running from Scott, or maybe later on, trying to avoid me — Pip had fallen into the creek and managed to climb out into the undercut and been trapped there, not able to get further up the bank. In any case, I grabbed him and worked my way up the creek bed.

Once out, all I wanted to do was hug him but he was covered with thorny burrs, as well as being wet and cold. I took him back to his crate and carried him up the car. And started the job of removing the burrs and then drying him off. Finally, he was good enough to travel comfortably. I headed back to give Lorrie the good news, called my wife from their phone and began the drive home.

Pip is fine. He has lost some weight and we have to be careful that he doesn’t overeat. I took him to the vet this morning and he checked out ok… no parasites, no injuries, just very hungry.

The nightmare has ended… and ended well.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 21st, 2008 at 12:53 pm and is filed under My Life. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.