Scratchings-and-Sniffings

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Still Looking for Zulu Posted: 11 Dec 2009 01:06 PM PST As of this morning the search for Zulu is still on. In fact, there has been so much support in the search that the rescue team is asking people to back off a bit. Seems like folks are coming out of the woodwork and tramping all over private property in the process.  There's a story in the paper about the effort and the response.    Apparently Zulu is a little on the skittish side and the team leading the effort from Animal Rescue of El Paso is worried that all the commotion will make her nervous and less likely to be found. They are using some interesting tools and techniques in the rescue attempt.   A recording of the owners voice is being played on a loudspeaker in a continuous loop. They also have a live trap baited with roasted chicken. For a dog that has been out there for almost ten days that sounds very tempting. You might be wondering how long she can survive in the woods without food. That's a tough question to answer and depends on a number of factors.   People have gone four to six weeks and up without food. In most cases they were not engaging in much physical activity and political prisoners on hunger strikes have gone 46 to 73 days before cashing in due to lack of food. We had a back packer in The Gila that was lost for five weeks going the last month without any food. Searchers had given up on her when another couple of hikers stumbled on her camp. She had been laying around too weak to do much of anything.   Zulu did not look to be carrying around much excess body weight from photos I've seen and she is probably on the move. Our temperatures have moderated but it's still in the low 20's at night. She is burning calories, for sure. She may be eating, too. All in all, I don't think she's going to succumb to starvation for some time; at least another couple of weeks.    We've had lots of snow in the last ten days so I'm not too worried about water. If it was the dry season and  the temperature was hotter, water would be the limiting factor. In hot weather, even just sitting around in the shade, you can't go much over two days without getting so dehydrated that you are in serious danger. Zulu is probably coming across enough snow melt and puddles to meet her needs.    One unknown is how much she's moving. When she was with her master, she stayed by his side and saved his bacon. Now that she's alone she may be wandering and dogs can cover lots of ground in a single day; easily 25 miles of more.    If she heads north from her last location she's headed for some rugged back country. If she heads any other direction she'll be in relatively civilized country.   Keep your fingers crossed and stay tuned to barking news. If she's found, we'll let you know.

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