Sizzling sausages used to rescue collie lost in Highlands forest
- Published
Mountain rescuers cooked sausages and bacon on a disposable barbecue to find a frightened dog in one of the remotest parts of the UK.
Nell ran off on Sunday during the rescue of her owner and a fellow ultra marathon runner after they got into difficulty in Fisherfield Forest.
Two members of Dundonnell Mountain Rescue Team went back to the scene of the rescue on Monday in their own time.
The smell of the food lured the Border collie out from where she was hiding.
She has been reunited with her owner.
Nell ran off after being frightened by Inverness Coastguard helicopter during the rescue in the early hours of Sunday.
The two ultra marathon runners had been reported overdue from a run the previous night. They were found near Loch an Nid in Fisherfield Forest, an area of the north west Highlands dubbed the "Great Wilderness".
They were suffering from mild hypothermia and were flown from the area by the coastguard helicopter.
Members of Torridon Mountain Rescue Team also assisted in the search for the runners.
On Monday, off-duty Dundonnell team members Alison Smith and Rachel Drummond returned to the scene with their dogs.
As well as packing winter walking kit, they took with them a disposable barbecue.
A spokesman for Dundonnell MRT said: "They fired up the barbeque and soon had sausages and bacon sizzling.
"The desired effect was soon achieved - a confused and anxious Border collie appeared on the horizon, on a rocky hillside.
"Having been lured closer by the smell of food, a nervous Nell was eventually secured and after a picnic lunch, she and her rescuers walked the five miles back to the roadside."
The spokesman said Nell appeared to have been unharmed by her ordeal.
Dundonnell MRT said the two women went looking for Nell because they own collies themselves, with Ms Smith's currently being trained up as a search and rescue dog.
- 8 March 2020
