Photo Courtesy of the National Park Service
If anyone ever tells you that real men don’t like dogs they are completely wrong. Real men like the Forest Rangers in Acadia National Park searched daily for Bailey, an 8-month-old puppy who was stranded for up to four days on a rocky ledge ledge in Acadia National Park. Daily meaning including on their days off because they knew Baily was there they could hear her crying but couldn’t find her and just couldn’t relax knowing she was out there scared and possibly in pain.
Bailey a Black Lab got loose and wandered away from her home in Southwest Harbor, Maine last Sunday. Her owners, searched for her and put up lost dog signs but no one was eve calling with sightings. Then the park rangers received a call on Monday from hikers who heard a dog crying in the area of Acadia’s Great Notch and Razorback trails. Park rangers went to the area and also heard the dog’s whines but could not find Bailey because of the dense woods large rocks formations of the forest.
Rangers returned on Tuesday and Wednesday to search for Bailey but again could not find where the cries were coming from but they knew the dog was still there. Then on Thursday Ranger Jed Fiske who spending his second straight day off looking for Bailey found the dog hidden on a ledge off the Razorback Trail. The dog was on a ledge and it couldn’t go up or down. He couldn’t get to her and so he had to leave her there overnight once more until he could go back with the entire team and a plan in place on how to get to her.
Using ropes the park rangers rappelled down to the dog and helped hoist her up to several waiting rangers. After receiving some water, Bailey immediately perked up and appeared “as happy as a dog could be” as she wagged her tail amongst the rangers. Happy to be with people who cared about her once again.
The veterinarian who checked out Bailey said she just needed some extra food and rest but otherwise was a healthy dog after her ordeal.
