A volunteer rescue team from Tennessee had a huge shock when they tried to rescue a dog from a cave – only to come face-to-face with a 200-pound bear.
Hunting dog Charliewas walking in the English Mountain area near Knoxville when he fell down a 40-foot narrow shaft into a cave last week, Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department said in a statement on Thursday.
A rescue team was assembled on Wednesday to try to pull Charlie out of the cave back to safety.
It was a precarious mission, with the team having to navigate the extremely small passages down into the cave.
But, the rescue became all the more dangerous when one of the firefighters encountered a huge bear.
Firefighter Tori Downing had lowered herself into the cave alongside Captain Jon Lanier, when she rounded a corner and saw the bear a mere five feet below her, the fire department said.
The huge bear was luckily asleep and so the rescuers quickly exited the cave.
They then set up trail cameras to monitor the exit, so they could descend again when the big beast had left the vicinity.
Capt Lanier explained that the rescue team believed Charlie was further back in the cave than he actually was.
“At first, we actually thought the dog had slipped further into the cave where we couldn’t access,” Mr Lanier told WVLT.
“It was kinda sad because we felt like we were gonna have to leave the dog there.”
Another firefighter, Christian Ellard, told the local outlet that this sadness then turned to hope when they realised he was within reach.
A 200-pound bear suprised the rescue team, who had to retreat after encountering the sleeping beast— (Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department/Facebook)
“As we’re about to head back out, I looked back one more time and I saw his antenna from his tracker collar,” he said.
Then, on Thursday, Charlie’s long stint down in the cave finally to an end when the bear left its sleep slot.
With the coast now clear, Mr Ellard and Mr Lanier from Waldens Creek’s department and Andrew Wojturski from the Sevier County Fire and Rescue entered the cave again.
Experts from Sevier County Volunteer Rescue Squad and the Catons Chapel/Richardsons Cove Volunteer Fire Department were also drafted in to help the rescue mission.
Together, they found the hunting dog and put him in a harness to pull him back up to safety.
Poor Charlie had been down in the cave for around three days at that point, sharing the space with the huge two-year-old bear.
Charlie was rescued after being stuck for three days in the cave— (Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department/Facebook)
The dog was dehydrated and hungry, but otherwise in good health. He has since been reunited with his relieved owner.
“We would like to thank and recognise the entire rescue team and people who worked together to make this happen. It was truly a team effort that required all these departments to make it a success,” Waldens Creek Volunteer Fire Department wrote on Facebook.
In total, it took volunteers from around four different firefighter and rescue team departments to get the pup out of the cave.
This is not the first time that the team has had to deploy a rescue mission for a trapped hound in a cave.
Last year, Storm, described by the fire department as none other than Charlie’s “cousin,” found himself in the same situation when he fell into a deep cave on English Mountain.
Like his cousin, Storm was okay too, thanks to the rescue teams that brought them back to safety. That time, the rescue mission didn’t have the added complexity of a sleeping bear.
Black bears are one of the most common breeds in Tennessee. They can grow up to six feet in length, can weigh anywhere between 125 and 600 pounds and are capable of running 20 miles an hour, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency (TWRA).
The agency says that while bears are tolerant of humans and usually try to avoid contact, their behaviour is unpredictable and so they should not be approached.
