A tiny desert town along Route 66 in Arizona is home to a new hero — a big, shaggy ranch dog who rescued a toddler lost in the desert this past April. Two-year-old Boden Allen was missing from his Seligman, Arizona, home for 16 hours when a 6-year-old Anatolian Pyrenees named Buford appeared in his master’s driveway with the child at his side — 7 miles from Boden’s home. Buford’s owner, Scotty Dunton, had heard about the child’s disappearance. “I noticed my dog was sitting by the entrance (to his ranch),” he said, “and the little kid’s standing there with my dog!” He calmed the child, who was unharmed except for a few scrapes and nicks, and gave him water and food while calling authorities. Dunton was overjoyed. “I was ecstatic that he was okay and that my dog found him,” he said. Dunton asked Boden if he had been walking all night, and the child told him no, he had been lying under a tree. “Did my dog find you?” Dunton asked Boden. He wasn’t surprised when the child said yes. Dunton traced the little boy’s tracks more than a mile from his ranch, with Buford’s paw prints beside them. “That’s what he does,” Dunton said of Buford. “He loves kids. I can imagine he wouldn’t leave him when he found him.” Dunton’s discovery of the little boy ended an anxious 16-hour search by more than 40 search-and-rescue volunteers, sheriff’s deputies, and state public-safety officers. Wearing only a tank top and pajama pants, Boden had wandered away at about 5 p.m. into rugged desert terrain, where two mountain lions were spotted later that night. Boden’s frantic parents had reported his absence to the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office. Dunton says he wasn’t surprised by Buford’s protective behavior. “He is a guardian dog. He patrols all night and keeps coyotes away,” he says. The Anatolian Pyrenees is a crossbreed, a combination of a Great Pyrenees and an Anatolian shepherd, known for its intelligence, gentleness, and protective nature. In appreciation for their neighborhood hero, Buford’s admirers piled chew toys, bones, and other gifts on Dunton’s doorstep for days after the rescue. DESERT HERO Rancher’s Dog Rescues Toddler Lost in the Desert
When a Colorado wildfire threatened one of Lockheed Martin’s plants last summer, the big defense contractor decided they needed better fire protection measures. So, the company called in an unlikely emergency workforce — a battalion of 1,200 grazing goats. Lockheed contracted Goat Green, a local Colorado company, to put its herd of hungry Cashmere goats to work clearing 98 acres of wilderness terrain near the company’s worksite, which includes a $350 million satellite-manufacturing facility. The terrain is too steep and hazardous for machine clearing or human crews, but it posed little challenge to the goats. Their mission: to eliminate fuel for future fires and clear paths for firefighters, if needed. The goats could mow down an acre of land dense with plants and underbrush in a day, eliminating invasive vegetation and reducing the terrain to a nearly level, trimmed surface. The goats’ work also prevents overgrowth near powerlines, where fires often start. Lockheed embraced this unusual fire-protection strategy after last year’s 580-acre Quarry Fire came within a mile of the company’s Waterton aerospace facility near Littleton. Five firefighters were injured battling the blaze, which forced the evacuation of 600 homes and put thousands of Colorado residents on edge. Goat Green has contracted with parks, government agencies, municipalities, farms, ranches, and private land owners across 15 states to provide low-tech clearing services. The company’s workforce consists of 1,500 Cashmere goats native to the Himalayas and comfortable in cold, dry temperatures. Unlike most domestic goats destined for the slaughterhouse early in life, Goat Green’s employees work for about 12 years for as many as 265 days a year. Kids are born on the worksites and learn to eat a wide range of weeds and forage as adolescents. These goats even have a retirement plan: After losing their teeth, they live out their final days in peace on a ranch. After a dozen wildfires in the last 10 years in the Littleton area, residents are bracing for another wildfire season. The area is a little bit safer this year, however, thanks to the goats. As one regional fire-protection official said on Facebook, “These goats are a wonderful partner to us.” Goats on the Job in Colorado Hooved Helpers Ward Off Wildfires
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