12/9/10 The Story of Bridget the Dog

Last night we had pretty much resigned ourselves to the fact that Bridget was gone.  We had done everything: posters, police, search party's, calls, etc.  It was damn cold out there last night.  She couldn't survive and besides we heard nothing, nada, ne a bark.....or was there?  I decided to go running the woods again just for the hell of it.  I ran all over looking this way and that.  When I got home I was discouraged but I just couldn't get over the fact that Lola was sitting on that hole on the side of the hill the day before.  I went back there again and I started calling Bridget's name.  I swore I heard something.  I would stop and call again.  I thought I heard a muffled bark but from where?  I ran inside to get Kim so she could hear. I wanted to make sure I wasn't  crazy (some people have called me that in the past....hard for me to figure that out).  Anyway, Kim comes out with Lola.  Now I didn't hear anything.  Kim just walked away shaking her head, as always.

I stood there for what must have been another 15 minutes.  I was getting cold in the 19 degree weather with just a jogging suit on.  Just then Terry, the hole reacher inner, other searcher, called and asked if I wanted to go back out again.  I said well I may just hear something.  The three of us went out but this time we narrowed our search.  It had been two nights in bitter wind.  We had little hope.  We searched and searched for about an hour.  I was down the road but I still thought I could hear something.  I just couldn't tell where it was coming from.  Just then I hear Terry scream "we got her!".

She was deep in a culvert.  One that was very long and running the steep hill behind our house.  It took a bend down and she couldn't get up.  It was too slippery.  She was about 25 feet down the hole.  She must have chased something in to it.  There was a kink near the other end that  the animal she was chasing could get out but she was too fat.  The dog seemed ok because it was underground and pretty warm but it stunk to high heaven in there.  Terry tried to slither down but couldn't get more than the length of her body.  We called the fire department but while we waited we ran for different items that we might use to rescue Bridget.  I brought up some burlap and chicken wire hoping we could somehow stuff it down there so she could get some footing.  Then Terry came up with the idea of an extension pole from the roof shovel.  In the meantime the fire department showed up.  The police were there too.  They had nothing to help us.  The ground was frozen solid so we couldn't dig.  Terry took the shovel part off of the poll and wrapped the burlap around it.  She climbed again down the hole reaching as far as she could while I was holding on to her feet.  She looped it around Bridget's hind legs just enough to slowly drag her up.

She's in great shape but really stinky.  Becky broke her glasses and now has tape to hold them together but that's about the extent of damage from this entire episode.  I put the chicken wire over the hole.  Maybe the very expensive village taxes could spring for some more chicken wire over these holes and just maybe equip the fire department with something...like at least an idea.