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Jack Russell terrier next to sign for Yellowstone National Park
Yellowstone National Park is filled with potentially dangerous features and creatures that people need to be careful to avoid during their visit. However, a small dog managed to avoid falling victim to any of them after it spent over a month roaming the expanse where it managed to escape from a cabin.
More than 4.5 million people visit Yellowstone National Park each year to experience the natural beauty of the 3,471 square miles of federally protected land that are primarily located in Wyoming.
Dogs (and other pets) are technically allowed on its grounds, but their presence is limited to “developed areas,” where they must be leashed when they’re not in a crate or a car.
They also can’t stray more than 100 feet from the campgrounds scattered throughout Yellowstone. That includes the Canyon Village, which boasts lodges and cabins that can accommodate hundreds of visitors who can take advantage of a fairly comfortable base of operations on the eastern side of the park.
Some of those cabins are pet-friendly, but one family from California was subjected to a lengthy ordeal that recently came to a happy end after opting to take a vacation with their dog.
A dog named Luna was tracked down after spending more than a month on her own in Yellowstone National Park
According to The Guardian, the family in question headed to Yellowstone in September with a 10-year-old Jack Russell terrier and Chihuahua mix named Luna, who was left to chill in a cabin when her humans went to check out the Norris Geyser on Thursday, September 10th.
They left a “Do Not Disturb ” sign on the door that was ignored by housekeeping, and Luna decided to make a break for it when given the chance to escape. Staff spent around two hours attempting to corral her, but she evaded those efforts before absconding into the wilderness.
A group of volunteers subsequently mounted a search for Luna, including some members of the Norris Ark Training and Recovery Center in Montana, which provided a steady stream of updates concerning sightings in the park in the weeks that followed.
She appeared to be looking for her family, as she was repeatedly spotted roaming the area where she initially escaped and even walked inside some lodges in the area.
Concerns about her well-being began to grow with temperatures gradually dropping, but on Wednesday, the saga came to an end after more than a month when Luna made her way into a trap that was filled with “scraps from a T-shirt and pillowcase belonging to the family.”
She had understandably dropped some weight (she was 18 pounds when she went on the lam), but a volunteer who transported her to a veterinarian for a check-up said she was ” alert and in good spirits.”
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