Baylee II

Armed the next morning with dog food, bowls, water, and a collar and leash, we returned to the spot on Champ Road where we saw the skinny, wormy little Beagle gal. We parked and Geri called, "Come here, little girl..." over and over until, like magic, the little Beagle cautiously crept from the ditch. Obviously, that was her home and the place she felt safe. We opened packets of wet dog food and we could barely get them in the bowl and retreat a few yards before she wolfed the food. That was the first time we realized she had a bottomless stomach. (The other time was several months later when she downed a pound tube of ground beef left out on the counter to thaw and was halfway through the second pound when we returned home.) As soon as the food ran out, she retreated to the ditch and no amount of calling could coax her out. We knew we had to catch her to save her, but the prospects didn't appear that great. We returned that evening, and like clockwork, we called and she appeared from the ditch. After she ate this time, however, instead of disappearing into the overgrowth, she sauntered into a field and lay down for a nap. She allowed me to sit within a couple of feet of her as she dozed in the tall grass. I suspect she kept one eye partially open, just in case. So I was able to enjoy some quiet communion with the little gal before she awoke, took one look at me and trotted back to her ditch.

We decided if we were going to catch her it would be the next morning. Sure enough, she was waiting on breakfast and we took a bowl full of food into the field next to her ditch, but, but instead of retreating a few feet, I made a loop of the leash and circled the food bowl with it. When she lowered her head to eat, the plan was that I would then jerk the leash and snare her. To our surprise, it worked, but it was as if I had captured a mountain lion. The little Beagle went nuts. But I held on for dear life...except for a brief moment when something made my hand relax, and she - and the leash - were gone in a flash. Geri and I looked at each other dumbfounded as the little Beagle ran across the field, crossed the road, and disappeared into the pasture beyond. Luckily, the leash had released itself and we didn't have to worry about her getting caught in a fence. The little Beagle may have thought we were done - and truly maybe we did also - but there was more to come.

Beagle at rest