Zoe's Great Escape

Talk about terrible irony. I spent part of my day building a "cat barrier" (basically chicken wire) to keep Zoe from using the a gate as pathway into the driveway and front yard. I finished it quickly, and even sent a few pictures around to show off my work.

About four hours later Zoe escaped the yard, and for a while I wasn't sure if I'd ever see her again. I was out in the backyard with her, and when it was time for me to get dinner, I went looking for her. I called, she did not respond. I listened for the bell on her collar, but didn't hear that either. I checked all the places in the backyard she likes to visit: the rose garden, under the deck, along the fence. Nothing.

I thought "well, so much for the cat barrier" and went looking in the front yard. She wasn't by the trash cans or in the juniper -- both places she's visited in past escapes. I walked up and down the street, calling for her. I even drove around the neighborhood. Zoe was nowhere to be found.

I walked into the backyard, headed for my phone so I could call someone to come and help me look for her. I called out Zoe's name a few more times, and this time I heard what I thought was the bell on her collar. It was coming from far away though. I ducked under a tree and looked over the fence, and saw a small animal standing outside of the house two doors down. I called her name, and she looked at me -- I knew it was Zoe.

I walked up the street to the house in question, and rang the doorbell. Nobody answered. I wasn't about to trespass in their yard, so I went to the house between us, and knocked on the door. Jim, my neighbor, answered the door, and I told him that Zoe was loose somewhere nearby. Zoe saw us, and took off up the hill. We slowly worked our way up the very steep hill (I had no idea that I had it so good here), but Zoe kept getting further away. By the time we reached the top of the hill, Zoe was already in the yard behind mine. We crossed over "the creek" and, after I got stuck on some blackberry thorns, finally reached her. She was clearly terrified, with her tail fluffed. She hissed at me several times, so I spoke to her quietly and told her to go inside. She slipped through a previously unknown hole below my fence, and back into my yard.

Jim escorted me back down the hill, I thanked him, and ran back into the yard to get Zoe. She was waiting for me at the back door, and ran inside right away.

While Zoe's in big trouble with me, I'm more relieved that I was able to find her at all. I think Zoe's off-leash days are now officially over.. and that newly built cat barrier is coming down tomorrow.