Luna has been saved!<\/span> (Photo: Norris Ark Rescue\/Courtesy photo))<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBefore she became a house dog, Luna spent roughly the first year of her life surviving on the streets of California before she was picked up by the SPCA, according to Boucher.<\/p>\n
Boucher believes some of the survival skills Luna developed as a stray have resurfaced in Yellowstone. Luna knows how to hide, find food and keep herself away from things she perceives as dangerous.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe does not need people and she knows it,\u201d Boucher said.<\/p>\n
Jack Russell Terriers Are Born to Survive in the Wild<\/h2>\n
Luna survived for weeks in a landscape full of cold nights, scarce food and predators, and has repeatedly turned up around buildings and parking lots.<\/p>\n
Alison Cook Cilliers, a longtime breeder who runs Kimberlite Jack Russell Terriers in California, said that Luna\u2019s survival story is indicative of the breed\u2019s traits.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey work independently of us,\u201d Cilliers told Outside<\/em>. \u201cThey are very tenacious, and they really don\u2019t want to give up.\u201d<\/p>\nJack Russell Terriers were originally bred to hunt underground, chasing animals into dens where handlers couldn\u2019t reach them, Cilliers said. Without a person there to give directions, the dogs had to figure things out on their own.<\/p>\n
That history left the breed with strong hunting instincts, high persistence and a notable independent streak.
Outside previously spoke with Cilliers about Finney, a Jack Russell terrier who in 2024 survived 72 days in the Colorado mountains after his owner died on a hike. But Cilliers sees an important difference between Finney and Luna.<\/p>\n
Finney remained with his owner after the accident, giving him what Cilliers described as a familiar \u201ccornerstone\u201d in an otherwise dangerous environment. Luna, on the other hand, lost her family almost immediately in a place she did not know.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith this little dog, she is very, very lost,\u201d Cilliers said.<\/p>\n
This difference might explain why Luna evaded capture for so long, Cilliers said. Early efforts to call to or pursue a frightened dog can push it deeper into a survival response, Cilliers added. Once that happens, an approaching stranger may no longer register as someone offering help.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s in that mode of protecting herself and wanting to be safe,\u201d Cilliers said.<\/p>\n
Catching Luna Is Easier Said than Done<\/h2>\n
Norris Ark used a device called a Missy Trap, which is a large enclosure designed for recovering frightened or hard-to-catch animals. Rather than relying on a pressure plate that shuts the door automatically, the version authorized for Luna\u2019s recovery uses a remote trigger, allowing someone watching from a distance to decide exactly when to close it.<\/p>\n
The National Park Service issued Norris Ark a special trapping permit specifically for the Missy Trap and its remote trigger, Boucher said. The people who developed the trap have also been consulting with the recovery team throughout the effort, sometimes several times a day.<\/p>\n
Boucher said Yellowstone has required a level of coordination her group does not normally encounter. She described it as an \u201curban wilderness environment,\u201d where a recovery effort has to contend simultaneously with wildlife, weather, tourists, roads, seasonal closures, contractors and federal rules.<\/p>\n
Some of those rules also help explain why Luna\u2019s owners are no longer in the park.<\/p>\n
Luna\u2019s family remained in the Yellowstone area until Sept. 22, Boucher said, but had trouble finding somewhere they could legally stay as lodging filled up and seasonal accommodations began closing. Yellowstone does not allow visitors to simply sleep overnight in a vehicle or camp outside designated areas.<\/p>\n
Outside<\/em> reached out to Luna\u2019s owners for this story, but they declined to comment. Boucher said they left reluctantly and contacted her as soon as sightings began coming in after their departure.<\/p>\nRescuers Raced Against Time<\/h2>\n
Norris Ark\u2019s permits for the operation were set to expire on October 31, making the hunt for Luna a race against the clock. Rescuers were also trying to battle Mother Nature.\u00a0A storm dumped a light dusting of snow on parts of Yellowstone in recent days. And weather was set to become colder in late October.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s a California dog. She\u2019s never seen snow before,\u201d Boucher said.<\/p>\n
But now rescuers no longer have to worry about the chilly temperatures.<\/p>\n
This is a developing story and Outside will update it with details of the rescue.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated October 14, 2026 12:31PM Outside associate editor Ella Cobb interviewed the rescuers who are trying to locate and save Luna the Jack Russell Terrier. Cobb also spoke to an expert with the breed to understand how Luna\u2019s innate senses are helping her survive.\u00a0 One of the most improbable survival stories in recent memory has<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":18136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wild-living"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/18136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wildgreenquest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}