A cat lost during a camping trip at the Yellowstone National Park has been returned home after two months and a journey of 800 miles. How exactly the pet managed to travel through the rugged and dangerous terrain, remains uncertain.
In June, Susanne and Benny Anguiano went on a camping trip to the Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming. They didn’t just take their camper but also travelled with their two Siamese cats, Rayne Beau (pronounced as Rainbow) and Starr. However, when they were transferring the cats from the car to the camper, Rayne Beau escaped into the woods.
“He didn’t realize that it wasn’t just like his backyard,” Susanne Anguiano commented. “This is like the biggest backyard in the United States.”
After California residents Benny and Susanne Anguiano's cat, Rayne Beau, ran off into the woods at Yellowstone National Parks during a camping trip, they held out hope he'd be found nearby. He was, but nearly 900 miles away from where he disappeared. pic.twitter.com/Q9kdh3KsI3
— The Associated Press (@AP) September 23, 2024
After having looked for him for several days, the couple decided to leave him behind and head home. Even though it felt like they were “abandoning” him, it seemed unwise to wait any longer. A campsite worker also told them the cat most likely wouldn’t make his way out alive, given the amount of predators in the park.
Fast forward to July, when Alex Bitts was going to work at Sutter Roseville Hospital and heard a “yowling” cat. She stopped, looked around and eventually saw a cat hidden in a small cement tunnel. She brought him some water and cat food, which according to her confirmed the fact that he was a pet and not a feral cat.
“As soon as I opened that first can, he poked his head up. He recognised the sound, so that indicated to me that he was a pet,” Betts said to CBS.
The following day, she brought him cat food once again and a dog kennel, in order to bring him home where she took care of him for several days. Once he was on the better hand, she took him to Placer SPCA in Roseville, where his microchip was scanned and his owners were identified.
Pet cat Rayne Beau got lost on a camping trip in Yellowstone National Park and was found two months later, 900 miles away from where he went missing. pic.twitter.com/bGnnCPUpSz
— Sky News (@SkyNews) September 21, 2024
“I still didn’t believe it. I was just so overwhelmed that this could be true and I didn’t want to have false hope,” Susanne told CBS. “It’s not even plausible for a cat, from where we were, to get out of Yellowstone.”
Rayne Beau was returned home to Salinas, California, three hours south from Roseville. After a visit to the vet, who said the cat lost 40% of his weight during his adventure, Rayne Beau was reunited with his sister Starr.
All in all, Rayne Beau was found 800 miles from where he was last seen at the Yellowstone National Park, heading in the direction of his hometown Salinas. Even though it is not the first time for a pet to be almost magically found so far from his starting point and so close to his owners, it remains unclear how the cat managed to survive his journey through mountainous, desert-like and dangerous terrain. His owners believe he might have (unwillingly) caught a ride with someone at the campsite leaving for California but they are still looking for anyone who might know more about the story.
