Rocko ~ Case 458

We could SCREAM with joy from the roof tops!!  We received a phone call from Mike moments ago with the best news.  We are now being given very generous access to the ranch property but in a different area than before.  We will have to recondition Rocko to this new area but we feel very confident we can do that!   They went to this new section today and took out a section of the fence and installed an access gate just for us and we will have 24/7 access without escort!  This is EXACTLY what we need.  

We will be meeting Mike on site tomorrow morning to sign liability waivers.  Immediately after we will be setting up a feeding station with cameras to start conditioning him to this new area!  

Once he is conditioned to eat in this new area then we will deploy the Drop Net in that location and condition him to eat under it there.  

Mike said “We want Rocko back home with his family as much yall do”!  

♥️ We are so grateful to the Property owners, to Mike, and to each and every one of you for speaking out and for your unwavering support!  ~~~ Everyone heard you!  ~~~ Now we are all on the same team to bring Rocko home and it’s a beautiful thing to see.   #TeamRocko

This morning our team surveyed our new operational area, we spent a couple of hours prepping the site, and we deployed a video monitored feeding station.  His new feeding station is precisely 626 yards from where the Drop Net used to be.  We laid about a 200 yard scent trail to help him find his new station more quickly.  The new area has some logistical challenges but we will work through them!  

After setting up the station we did aerial surveillance and found him napping about 550 yards away from his new feeding station.  WATCH: https://youtube.com/live/Yu-tJnLIGXM?feature=share

We will post videos right away as soon as he visits the station and eats.  The resident dogs do have access to this area, but we are hoping that it’s far enough that they do not visit and eat his food. Just in case other dogs or a coyote visits we put extra food out for him.  Coyotes do not typically eat the food that we put out unless they are desperate.  The coyotes we have surveyed on the ranch are healthy and they are hunting very well.  

Rocko found the new feeding station relatively quick.  He stayed for 11 minutes eating.  

Now we will keep replenishing the food daily and let him get nice and comfortable with the new location and monitor his eating schedule in this new location.  It’s very important that we let him get comfortable before deploying the Drop Net.  

We will be conducting daily aerial flights to see if his den locations have moved closer to his new feeding station or if they stay the same.  That intel is critical as we prepare and condition him for capture! 

Now that Rocko has come twice during the day in the new area, we will replenish his food early each morning and we will reduce the amount of food we are putting out since he will likely get to it each day before the overnight wildlife.  If the resident dogs start showing up we will increase the food but as of right now it’s not an issue.  

About a minute into the video Rocko shows up while a coyote is at his feeding station.  The coyote RUNS away and Rocko eats!   

This is precisely the behavior we were expecting and hoping to see as we get closer to deploying the Drop Net.  

After replenishing the feeding station this morning we did an aerial observation flight and found Rocko sleeping in one of his usual dens 446 yards away from his new feeding station.  It does not appear that he has moved his dens closer to the station which is fine.  

Rocko didn’t stay as long this time but we will take it!  He drank water from our bowl for the very first time!  

EXCELLENT NEWS!  Because the other dogs are not showing up, we decided this morning to put flea medication and a dewormer in his food.  He came early this afternoon and ate the medication that was on the very top.  He should start to feel much better within a few hours.

Coyote visits immediately after Rocko left.  

We put fresh food out this morning at 07:00 and then did an aerial flight and found Rocko in one of his usual dens sleeping.  He stayed there most of the day.  He didn’t show up to the feeding station until late this afternoon.  

We are making our plan to deploy the Drop Net ASAP…. but must do it around the rain that’s lingering for the next few days.  

They are all just surviving out there… 

Each morning when we replenish the food we spend about five minutes prepping the ground for Drop Net deployment.   We do this in small stages sometimes when dogs like Rocko are extremely reactive to large changes to the landscape they know too well.  Prepping this particular site requires the removal of 150-200 large stalked weeds in a field to clear a 30’ x 30’ area.  The net must drop on a clean unobstructed ground surface.  

These two hang out most nights… but when it comes to food, Rocko is definitely the alpha. ~~~ Find comfort in knowing that natural hybridizations are uncommon because the breeding cycles of dogs and coyotes are not synchronized.  

Pray to the powers that be that he just walks right under it like a boss… like he did the first time when it was at the previous location!  If he doesn’t we will just condition him.  

We have rain coming tonight and hopefully tomorrow it will start to dry out. We need for the ground to be relatively dry before staging for capture so that the magnets do not sink down into the mud, which would hinder him from dragging them, which helps him get tangled enough to not escape. 

Several days of rain made Net deployment very challenging because the ground is VERY SOFT.  The poles weren’t holding stable as they usually do so we had to put extra tension on our stabilization ropes.  As it dries out adjustments may be needed before capture.

♥️☺️Thank you SO MUCH to ranch employees Mike, Antonio, and Manuel for all of your help this morning.  We are eternally grateful.  

When we deployed the Drop Net yesterday we didn’t hold back… we put his food in the CENTER of the net since he ate from there in the previous location.  He was so brave!!  Scared, but a brave sweet boy.  

We believe he likely saw us setting up yesterday morning and that’s why it took him so long to come.  

This morning when we replenished his feeding station, we added a second dose of Capstar (which kills adult fleas within minutes) as well as a dose of Bravecto to his wet food.  Bravecto is a prescription flea/tick preventative medication that lasts for 3 months. 

Rocko ate the medication right away tonight!   He was much more relaxed under the Drop Net this time. He stayed for 10 minutes

There was a lot of frozen condensation on our camera.  He didn’t eat much… only stayed for 3 minutes.  

Our cameras caught a quick glimpse of Rocko running by the feeding station tonight but for the first time ever he didn’t stop and eat.  His behavior was strange.  He looked back as if someone or something was chasing him but none of our cameras saw anything.  * If it was a person it was likely a trespasser.  They occasionally get people trying to poach deer. 

Before we deployed the Drop Net he would visit this new site during the day but post net deployment he only visits after dark now. 

During the 11 minutes he was there the fluctuation in the dew point was intermittently affecting our video image.  

Once he settles into the bowl he is much more relaxed but goodness is he stressed when he first gets there each time.  Tomorrow night the net drop timing is everything so we will make sure he is not pacing and that he is settled in. 

We staged for capture for 16 hours overnight.  Rocko was not captured. Rocko lingered near the Drop Net all throughout the night but he never would go under the net to eat.  We came to the conclusion early this morning that we must have been staged TOO CLOSE for his comfort.  He just knows the landscape like the back of his paws and in this new location it’s very hard to be out completely out of his sight during staging but be close enough to trigger the Drop Net and then get to him quickly. It’s a double edge sword. Regardless, we must adapt to his demands, so we were forced to change our staging location and move another 30 yards away.  Our lack of staging area options in this new location has been one of our biggest challenges we having been trying to work through.  

Any time there is a change to anything at all on site Rocko takes time to adapt and tolerate the change.  We just have to work through those issues as we discover them.  

Another issue is that Rocko DOES have access to food outside of one the ranch hands houses and Rocko sometimes does a quick driveby overnight.  We try to address this issue by making our food BETTER!!!  But Rocko has never been food motivated.  Dogs in survival mode take the least amount of risks ALWAYS.  Rocko isn’t “starving” so he will naturally take far less risks. When they are overly hungry, they tend to take more risks.  

We staged again this evening from 16:00 until 21:00 but Rocko was still very erratic and wouldn’t go under the net to eat.  Our team was staged in an area far enough away where he couldn’t see us so he was just having an off day.  He may have still been spooked from us being staged too close Saturday night.  Regardless, he was pacing under the net.  We absolutely cannot trigger the Drop Net with him pacing so we aborted capture staging for this evening.  In this video you can see his behavior is very VERY cautious.  

~~~ He will recover and as soon as he does we will stage for capture again. 

Yay!!!   Not long after our live stream update Rocko surprised us and showed us he will likely recover fairly quickly!  As you can see in the video, he is pacing a lot but he should settle down.  One of the coyotes even visited after Rocko.  This is relieving news!  

It’s 07:00 Christmas morning and our team can think of nothing else.  We are on conference briefing about our next Drop Net staging plan once it dries out!   Every TINY detail matters.  When we have him captured, we are going to share with you what extremes we are having to go to to get him.  You won’t believe it!  We cannot share the details right now because we have to protect the integrity of the operation, but it’s absolutely unprecedented!  You’ll understand this afterward. ~~~ Clever CLEVER boy!  

Today we will still be conducting aerial observation flights and we will be replenishing Rocko’s feeding station on schedule!  

Now that the owner of the two mamma dogs pulled up their food at night so that Rocko could no longer access it, Rocko came to the Drop Net this morning looking for food!  We will be putting out fresh food at 16:00 today.   

He hasn’t shown up to eat all day and all night so we did an aerial search this evening and found him where the Drop Net and food used to be. 😫💔 Rocko has to be hungry… unless the ranch hand forgot to pull up his dogs food last night.  

We hope the forecast is wrong but now it’s showing rain for tomorrow. 

After not showing up for almost 36 hours, he finally made an appearance and ate. 

When we replenished the food yesterday afternoon we had to treat two newly developed Fire Ant mounds under the Drop Net, so something as simple as that could have thrown him off yesterday.  

As usual lately, he was pretty skittish at first and it took him over a minute to go under the Drop Net but he eventually settled in... he still paced at first but it's not bad enough we can't work with it.  

As of yesterday rain and storms got thrown into the forecast for this morning.  If it is anything other than a LIGHT rain we may have to move staging to tomorrow.  We will keep you posted!  

There was zero rain in the forecast for today until yesterday.  Now this appears to be heading straight for the Drop Net. 😫  It’s forecasted to rain again tonight also.  

We will replenish his food today at 15:00

We are not live streaming staging because it’s pitch black and you won’t be able to see anything. 😜♥️

We immediately transported him one mile away to the ER clinic for an exam, testing, and continuation of care.  

Rocko‘s bloodwork was all normal but he did test positive for heartworms and we started him on doxycycline to go ahead and begin his heartworm treatment.  

If you’d like to help sponsor Rocko’s ER care or Neuter Surgery & Heartworm Treatment you may make a tax deductible donation here:  https://muttsandmayhem.org/charitable-giving

Weeks ago as soon as we discovered both of Rocko’s ranch girlfriends were pregnant, we had offered to their owners to cover the expenses for veterinary checkups and we also offered to take all of the puppies when they are 8 weeks old and cover all vaccines, dewormers, spay/neuters, etc.  We told them that if they have other plans for the puppies we would at least cover their veterinary expenses.  ~~~ A week before Rocko’s capture and the day after Rocko’s capture, we text’d both husband & wife owners of the mom dogs with well wishes and to remind them of our offer.  We also requested pictures and updates of both moms and puppies but tragically we have not received any replies.  😫💔