Large Fierce Mammal

Your friendly neighbourhood search team. This was taken by Mrs, LFM just after we successfully “rescued” her and her trusty companion Gunner. Milo is proudly proclaiming his awesomeness. (Click the picture to enlarge)

The way our work weeks are structured, field work in the service of clients runs from Friday through to Tuesday with Sunday usually taken for personal use, and Wednesday through to Thursday is reserved for administrative paperwork, writing and other creative pursuits, training and development of our own Pack, and quality us time.

Yesterday being Tuesday, we conducted a tracking exercise involving Mrs. LFM heading off into our local woods with Gunner, and me with Milo searching them out after giving them about a half hour start. The plan was for Mrs. LFM and Gunner to follow a circuitous route that I was not fully aware of because neither was Mrs. LFM, with the destination being some as yet unknown point along the river that runs for many kilometers from south to north along the western boundary of our well forested “back yard” before it empties into the LaHave River near Bridgewater. If Milo lost their scent trail, or I missed his cues and failed to react appropriately, the whole affair would rapidly devolve into dumb luck.

The start time was late afternoon, with the light waning as we neared sundown, very little to no wind, and temperatures at about +5 degrees Celsius. Milo started strong with nose down and tail up wagging furiously, indicating he was alerting to the scent trail exactly where it was deposited. We moved as fast as safety permitted and in his exuberance Milo overran the point where our quarry had veered right. Realizing that, he stopped and began to scent the air in a process called “casting”. When it became obvious to me what had happened, I led him back to the last place I had seen him with a solid lock, and deployed him again. This time he continued to cast, and began to check trees and scrub growth for captured scent as he led me into the area I later learned Mrs LFM and Gunner had traversed, although we were starting about 10 meters west of their actual track, converging with it. In this segment, Milo took his time and continued to get scent confirmations off vertical surfaces where particulates blown off of Mrs. LFM and Gunner had travelled on what little breeze there was to be captured in the crevices of rough bark and stones.

Crossing a small stream, he suddenly alerted again, and soon we were scrambling up a Pine needle carpeted hillside and over scrapes left by feet sliding by someone else ascending. Reaching a game path at the top of the hill, Milo led me down it and, still with complete assurance, veered westward. we continued that way for another ten minutes or so before we cut across another trail used by some local off road bicyclists with a death wish. He led me north along that until he once again overran the scent and started combining casting and checking upright surfaces, with peering into the woods. This peering suggested he suspected by the concentration of scent that our quarry was nearby.

We went back up the trail to the last confirmed lock-on where I deployed him again, and this time we continued down the trail until Milo slowed and moved off it to the west. He continued to lead me slowly through the undergrowth using scent entangled in it to guide him until we cut an old logging road running parallel to the river. There he veered north, and we made our way another 50 to 60 meters before he clearly overran the airborm scent he was following and decided on his own to double back along the downwind side of the road. I later learned Mrs. LFM and Gunner had also doubled back on that very trail before descending to the river which explains why a strong scent marker suddenly dwindled – but Milo was onto them! We could clearly hear the river at this point, and a short time after doubling back, Milo led me down the steep eastern embankment of the ravine through which the river runs. He seemed calm, focused and certain, and just as I noted this change in his demeanor, through the trees I spotted Mrs. LFM sitting with Gunner on the riverbank about 50 meters directly ahead of us. So intent was Milo on the scent trail that he didn’t actually see them until Gunner couldn’t stand it anymore and began to bark.

I’ll be doing more here this year on the subject of dogs and tracking. In the mean time, stay found.

Mrs. LFM with her other protector, Gunner, just the way we found them. (Click the picture to enlarge)