It took a quite a team effort, but Talulah, a blue-eyed dog, was reunited with her family recently after an adventure that left her stranded overnight on a 75-foot cliff that rescuers could only reach by rappelling down a mountainside in Palm Springs.
"The Palm Springs Mounted Police Search & Rescue Team, along with members of the Oswit Land Trust (OLT) and Palm Springs Wildlife Advocates, rescued Talulah, the blue-eyed beauty, just after 11 o’clock, this morning," according to Palm Springs Police Department (PSPD) on Facebook last Wednesday.
She had escaped from her yard after chasing bighorn sheep and ended up on a perilous cliff overnight but Talulah came through it all unharmed and eventually was reunited with her owner at the Palm Springs Animal Shelter following the rescue, according to PSPD.
"Thank you to everyone who assisted in this rescue and got Talulah home safe!" the department said.
The Oswit Land Trust detailed the rescue in a YouTube video that explained how it initially got a report late last Tuesday night about a dog chasing endangered bighorn sheep in the Oswit Canyon near the Carl Lykken Trail. Early the following morning, OLT Conservation Ranger Scott Collins was the first to arrive on scene and locate Talulah. According to the video, Collins was tipped off to Talulah's whereabouts by the strange behavior of a group of bighorn sheep. On a small cliff face about 75 feet from the canyon floor, there was Talulah with no way out.
"The OLT was able to climb a large rock above the dog but could not reach the cliff face below," according to the video. So the team contacted PSPD, which dispatched the Palm Springs Mounted Police Search & Rescue Unit to lend a hand.
Since Talulah couldn't come up to them, the Search & Rescue Unit decided they'd have to go to her, and that would mean rappelling the 75-foot cliffside.
Once the rescuer made contact, the video said, "The dog seemed excited to have a friend, immediately wagging her tail when greeted with treats by the Search and Rescue Team." Then the officer secured Talulah in a harness for their 75-foot descent to security. "Safely back on the ground, Ranger Scott was able to guide the excited pup down the final rocky slope to safety."
A reunion at the Palm Springs Animal Shelter was made possible because of a microchip implanted on Talulah that was scanned to learn the owner's identity.
This feel-good video can be watched here on YouTube.
Talulah now has a nickname among rescuers: King of the Bighorn Sheep.