Searching for Teddy...

We loaded up the backpacks and headed for the mountain...Sharp Mountain of course. While one might think it is a small mountain, when one attempts to hike from one end to the other it is a bit longer than originally thought, however it IS beautiful and great exercise, especially hiking to the top (just ask my husband, poor fellow ). Once on the top it is fairly flat and a nice walk, although walls of bugs attacked us every once in a while (and yes we did use deep woods off). While I knew if Teddy was around he wouldn't come to us, I really just wanted to make sure that he wasn't injured or worse. It is impossible for two people to scour the entire mountain but we figured by being at the top at least we had the opportunity to search both sides within our vision.

We did not see him unfortunately, or perhaps that is good. We did find a few muddy areas with single dog prints, looking relatively fresh, but that was about the only signs we saw, and it is possible it could have been another dog's prints.

We walked from one end of the mountain to the next and ended up hiking down on our side of the mountain (we originally went up on the other side), so we had to drive back over to pick up a vehicle. We were disheartened and Teddy weighed heavily on our minds as we both thought, "he's gone." The thoughts of how he might be "gone" are unbearable to consider.

We also distributed more posters, hoping that someone somewhere might call and give us an update-so far no luck.

Yesterday morning after I placed the steaming plate of smelly delicacies in the trap, I kept watch intermittently, and then I heard the trap snap. Excitedly I grabbed the binoculars to see what was caught. Well it didn't take long for me to see that I caught myself a bird. At least I know the trap works and that I set it correctly but this was not the outcome I was hoping for. I made my way up to the trap where the bird was frantically trying to escape. Of course it was a bold Blue Jay, however he wasn't feeling so bold at that point. I opened the trap and moved away, and he flew out and was gone-probably swearing at me under his breath.

So I didn't trap Teddy, we didn't see him after two and one half hours on the mountain, he didn't eat his wonderfully smelly food, and no one has called to say they saw him or fed him. I still wonder why he was barking those two mornings last week and hope he isn't suffering from some kind of illness mental or otherwise, although it wouldn't surprise me after living the life he's lived for the past year. This morning I placed another full plate of roasted chicken, vienna sausage, mac and cheese, and liverwurst, and once again...I wait.