CALIFORNIA
If you’re planning to embark on a cross-country trip but worry that air travel might be too ruff on your canine companion, maybe give BARK Air a shot — no, not you, Gov. Kristi Noem, put down that gun! According to FOX KTVU, the airline’s inaugural flight — a “white paw experience,” as in “white glove,” not “white-knuckled” — took off from Westchester County Airport May 24 and landed successfully at Los Angeles’ Van Nuys airport. Everything went smoothly, although a few days later Westchester County sued BARK for exceeding the passenger seat limit for private jets — 14 instead of the regulation nine. The lawsuit was settled June 10, according to fox10phoenix.com, with BARK Air agreeing to sell a maximum of nine seats. The airline offers a fancy assortment of “dog-centric” luxuries to keep its four-footed passengers in furred-class comfort, including a concierge service, noise-canceling earmuffs, chicken-flavored “puppuccinos” and doggie champagne (chicken broth), among other amenities. The price for one dog-and-human ticket runs $6,000, one-way, so it isn’t exactly budget-friendly for the average Joe, or Fido. Next up: Canine Carnival Cruises on a luxury yacht? Noah’s Bark, here we come!
OREGON
If you’ve ever doubted that dogs deserve first-class treatment, doubt no longer. When 62-year-old Brandon Garrett’s truck plummeted off a steep curve into a deep ravine somewhere in the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest, one of the four dogs he had with him, a whippet named Blue, raced off to find help, Field & Stream reported, running four miles through dark woods despite having glass embedded in his snout. Later that night he found the campsite where Garrett planned to meet up with family. Roused by Blue, the family searched all night and located the crash site at the bottom of the ravine the next morning. Their 911 call brought help from the Baer County Sheriff’s Office, Baker County Search and Rescue, Pine Valley Rural Fire District and Halfway Ambulance. Garrett was airlifted by Life Flight Helicopter to a hospital where he was treated for several non-life-threatening injuries and released. One of the four dogs suffered a broken leg, and another received surgery for a broken hip. And Blue, who certainly proved true-blue, answered the eternal question once and for all: Who’s a good dog? You are, Blue. You are.
CALIFORNIA
Back in 2019, Diesel, a pet donkey living on a ranch in Auburn, California, accompanied his owner, Dave Drewry, on a hike in the Cache Creek Wilderness near Clear Lake, CBS Sacramento reported. But Diesel got spooked and ran off. The Drewrys, who suspected he’d been eaten by mountain lions, searched for weeks on horseback and using drones, but “finally kind of gave up,” Terrie Drewry said. Then, this June, five years later, a hiker captured video footage of what appeared to be — you guessed it — a donkey living happily with a herd of elk, and Terrie is positive that it’s Diesel. “It was amazing,” she said. “Finally we know he’s good. He’s living his best life. He’s happy. He’s healthy, and it was just a relief.” Now that Diesel is a full-fledged member of the Elks Club, the Drewrys have no plans to bring him back to the ranch. “To catch him would be next to impossible, anyway,” Terrie said. “He is truly a wild burro now.”
MONTANA
The birth of a rare white buffalo in Yellowstone National Park on June 4 occasioned a celebratory gathering on June 26, NPR reported. The calf is believed to be the first white bison born in Yellowstone, according to park officials. To many Indigenous people, a white buffalo is sacred; its birth fulfills a prophecy and reminds humanity to take better care of the Earth. “It’s like a miracle to us,” said Chief Arvol Looking Horse, a spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Oyate peoples and the 19th keeper of the sacred White Buffalo Calf Woman Pipe and Bundle. Around 500 people from several tribes gathered at the headquarters of Buffalo Field Campaign between Hebgen Lake and Madison Range to celebrate with singing, dancing, drumming and a retelling of the Buffalo Calf Woman story. The calf’s name, revealed on a painted hide, is “Wakan Gli,” which means “Return Sacred,” in Lakota. Yellowstone officials say the calf hasn’t been seen since June 4. Perhaps this is just the spokesbison’s way of saying “No comment.” Besides, as Looking Horse told NPR, “The thing is, we all know that it was born, and it’s like a miracle to us.”
Tips of Western oddities are appreciated and often shared in this column. Write heard@hcn.org, or submit a letter to the editor.
This article appeared in the August 2024 print edition of the magazine with the headline “Heard around the West.”
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