Mamba's Adventures

I've been told everyone loves a story with a happy ending, so you're going to love this story of Mamba, my little 6.5 pound chihuahua friend who had a 10-day adventure, right here in our neighborhood. This is a picture of her.



I know what you're thinking. She doesn't look like she'd be up to much in the way of adventures, lounging around as she is in her designer clothes. But don't be fooled by that little dog, aren't-I-so-cute-in-my-tropical-outfit look. Mamba surprised us all.

About two weeks ago, her mum went out, leaving Mamba and her four little friends in their yard. The wind got up while she was gone, and when she returned, she found the gate blown open and 5 little dogs running around outside. The four came back inside when they saw their mum, but Mamba, being the timid girl she is, ran the other way and no amount of coaxing would bring her back.

As you know from some of my stories, our neighborhood is a bit of a wild place, with coyotes, javelina, bobcats and sometimes the odd mountain lion roaming around. It's rocky and hilly, and at the time Mamba got out, very, very hot. (I may have complained about the heat once or twice myself recently).

Mamba's mum was very upset and went all over the neighborhood with her friend, calling and looking for Mamba. She put Mamba's picture up everywhere around. (Personally, I think that may be what made Mamba stay away so long - she was just plain embarrassed that everyone had seen her in those fancy clothes and didn't want the other dogs laughing at her!)

She was last seen near the school, which is just by our house, so every time we went for a walk, me and Mum would look for her. But it was so hot, even I didn't want to be out there. The blacktop burned my paws and after only a short time, I'd want to go back home. "Poor Mamba", we thought," there's no way she'll have survived out here. If the heat hasn't done her in, that mean coyote that comes around barking insults to me at night will surely have snarfed her down for his evening snack."

As the days stretched out into a week, the posters of Mamba taped to the Stop signs were getting brittle in the heat and curling at the edges, and the picture was fading so it was hard to tell if she was a dog or a monkey. But her mum didn't give up. Everyday she still went out looking and calling for Mamba. A couple of people called and said they had seen her, which gave her mum some hope, although she didn't really believe it, as this was a really long way from where she had last been seen. One man called to say he'd seen her running across the road not far from where Mamba's family lived, but Mamba's mum thought he must have seen a rabbit, which there are plenty of around here, and it's easy to confuse them with a little itty-bitty dog.

The man said the rabbit/dog had been wearing a collar, so with her friend, Mamba's mum went door to door, asking everyone again if they had seen Mamba. When they got to the last house, it was the man who had seen the rabbit/dog who opened the door. He said he'd seen Mamba again nearby, but she was afraid and ran away when he went near. Mamba's mum thanked him for the information and went to leave. The man showed Mamba's mum and her friend a shortcut to get back to their street, and as they were crossing the land, they saw Mamba right there, hiding near the barn! Mamba's mum called her and this time she came back. I guess she'd had enough of being out on her own and was missing her family at home. (I know what that's like. If ever I get out the gate for an adventure on my own, and there's no one home at David & Hope's, or any of the other houses I go to, after several days, hours, minutes, I start to miss my mum so I go and wait on the doorstep till she lets me in).

So, how did Mamba survive all those days out in the wilds on her own? She hasn't been saying too much about it. Mamba is a rescue dog, like me, which makes us tough. She came from somewhere called a puppy mill where she lived with 200 other dogs. I'm not sure what a puppy mill is, but Mum says it's not a good place and Mamba had many, many puppies when she lived there. There was never enough food, so she had to learn to be smart and outwit the other dogs.

We're all so happy that Mamba was found safe and well. She's now known as the "Miracle Dog" and is quite the heroine in our neighborhood. She's earned her respect among all our dog friends and I think she can pretty much wear what she likes these days, without fear of anyone laughing at her.