Sully, an 8-month-old Bernese Mountain Dog is recovering with his humans after being lost on the slopes of Sugarbush for over three days before being found thanks to a thermal drone and a dedicated team of professionals and volunteers.
Sully’s humans are Mary K and Mike Siciliano. He was staying with them and family members at Clay Brook when he bolted on Monday. He was spooked by people’s ski gear, helmets, and boots and when Mary K was backing him away from them, she tripped over a sidewalk sign and fell over. Sully bolted up the slopes, running up past the Mushroom, up Spring Fling, into the woods over to Lixi’s Twist and out of sight. That was Monday at 10:30 a.m.
The Sicilianos snowshoed up and skied the area that day and went out again at night on snowshoes. Their son Keenan went all the way up Stein’s Run and could see Sully’s footprints the distinctive mark left by his leash that was still attached.
The search continued Tuesday and Wednesday with extensive help from Sugarbush and community volunteers including Sue Wear, Burlington, a well-known Vermont finder of lost animals, For the Love of Dogs Vermont, Annabelle Reisner, concierge at Claybrook and others.
While this was ongoing, the Sicilianos were made aware of Rob Russell who runs Tac Air Ops in Barrington, New Hampshire, offering thermal drone search and rescue services for lost animals and livestock. Russell, retired after 27 years in the military, got into thermal drones thinking he might use it to inspect roofs. But things took a turn when he was approached by friends to help find a missing dog, and then another and this week, Sully.
RUSSELL OFFERS DRONE SEARCH
With Russell on scene, Team Sully gathered at the base of Lincoln Peak where his vehicle is equipped with monitors, drones, charging equipment and more. Russell and Team Sully spent all day Wednesday carefully covering the slopes at Lincoln Peak. On Thursday morning, starting at 6:30 a.m. while Russell and Mike were combing the mountain, Mike spotted what he thought might be Sully’s nose on the screen. The thermal drone imaging shows heat signatures in white with warm bodies and warmer things showing up brighter white. That’s on one side of the screen. On the other is a visual image of the terrain, the trees and, in this case, Sully’s nose.
“He was found on the right side of Stein’s Run, about a third of the way down, on skier’s left. Mike thought he could see the white stripe on his nose and Rob zoomed in on the thermal but couldn’t see his heat signature. Then he zoomed in on the visual screen and we could see his snout. He was there, under the protection of tree branches,” Mary K recalled.
Convinced it was Sully, Mike and Sugarbush ski patrollers headed to the top of Stein’s while ski patrollers ascended in an electric snowmobile to avoid spooking Sully.
FIGHT OR FLIGHT MODE
“We knew he was going to be in fight or flight mode and Rob advised us to approach quietly and calmly,” Mike said. He was told to remove his helmet, which he did, so that it wouldn’t spook the dog.
He approached on snowshoes with freshly-cooked bacon and chicken in foil in a Ziplock bag, staying in touch with Russell via high power radios. Russell could see Mike and the dog. He let Mike know that Sully was moving and advised him not to panic or rush. Rather, Mike was advised to sit or lie down and talk softly and normally to Sully, tossing out pieces of food.
“I always have people bring what we call stinky food which includes freshly cooked bacon or rotisserie chicken. Dogs in this state are in fight or flight and they’re very hungry. When Mike opened the bacon you could see, on the camera, Sully’s nose go right up,” Russell said.
STINKY FOOD
Russell told Mike that it was normal for dogs to move around at a time like this and Sully did not move too far. His nose went repeatedly up in the air as he scented the bacon and chicken.
Mike continued to move slowly towards Sully, across soft moguls where the going was difficult. He sat as he got closer, throwing food out ahead of him and then saw Sully about 30 yards downhill from him at the edge of the woods.
“I was doing my best to throw the food in his direction, calling to him in a normal or slightly elevated voice. I knew it was working because I saw him wag his tail. He came closer and then got close enough to eat food out of my hand. While he was going that, I grabbed his harness and didn’t let go,” he said.
While he held onto Sully and reported to Russell via radio, Sugarbush ski patrol was mobilizing, lowering a toboggan by rope to the slope where Mike and Sully were. They got out of the woods slowly and onto the sled, slowly, with Mike removing his snowshoes and hanging onto Sully.
IMPRESSED BY PROFESSIONALISM
Russell, who had a long career in emergency services and the U.S. military, said he was impressed by the professionalism of Sugarbush’s ski patrollers in how they organized and responded and also in how well they managed the roped-descent down the steep slopes of Stein’s, back to the base area. He praised Reisner as well for her compassion, maturity and willingness to come in on her days off to help with the search.
Once at the base area, to cheers and hugs, Sully was taken to Valley Animal Hospital where he was pronounced healthy (except for some chaffing from his harness), a few pounds lighter and very hungry and tired.
“It was overwhelming. There was exuberance once we spotted Sully and his exact location. He’d been missing for 72 hours and there’d been such different weather over those three days. Really cold and Wednesday night’s heavy rain. There was a lot of emotional volatility over the last three days,” Mike said.
Mary K concurred and added that “the community response was unbelievable and humbling. So many people wanted to help, and did help.”
To see a video of Russell and the Sicilianos and Sugarbush patrollers working to rescue Sully, visit:
https://youtu.be/QXYnaYCyV6s?si=h-ueoGp43yJa5JU3
