Latest Track Confirms The Very Recent Sighting of Olivia

Attached is the track Sam & Salsa ran on 2/27/11. The track confirms that the very recent sighting by our Coast Guard friends near the power plant was, in fact, Olivia. Now that one of the guards has actually seen her, they'll know to watch the shadows for her from now on and investigate any rustling in the bushes next to the guard shacks.

If you can help: Since Olivia's expanded her track further out, we have some gaps in flier and poster coverage. We can provide all the supplies for anyone who is available to volunteer to put up fliers in his/her off time. Thanks so much in advance! You guys have been really wonderful about volunteering your time so far!

Also, a big shout out to our blog followers in New Zealand!

* * * New Sighting Tonight * * *

We just got a call at 8:15 tonight from a guard at the Coast Guard facility who saw a solo dog that matches Olivia's description.

She was on 1st St SW between V St and T Sts SW and was by the fence at the Pepco Power Plant (see attached map at left for the location of tonight's sighting).

We're heading there now, but even if we don't locate her tonight, this will still be one of our first confirmed, "real-time" sightings of Olivia in a while, so it's wonderful news!

Olivia's Latest Track & Another New Sighting!!!

We have a new sighting of Olivia! One of our volunteers (thanks to Beth!) handed out a business card to a jogger near Randall Rec Center -- one of Olivia's known spots. He'd seen her on more than one occasion "near a pond" and pointed away from the waterfront area (so, north). I'll look at a satellite map tonight, but if anyone knows what pond he might be referencing, comment below -- it would be either north, northeast, or northwest of the Randall Rec Center in SW.

Sam and Salsa did another fantastic and long track yesterday. You can see them at left tracking along the Anacostia Riverwalk. Sam puts it best below, but the short of it is: Olivia is much braver than we thought, has extended her range in circles out as far as Anacostia and has even crossed a railroad trellis/bridge to get there! Her track is below (the latest track is in turquoise; the track from a week or so back is in red).

From Sam: "Here is the track from yesterday. The map doesn't really show how 'interesting' this track was. Our girl has really expanded her territory and is much "nervier" than we thought. She walked across the Anacostia River on a train trestle and found a nice, dry shelter right on the other side of the river.

Then, after spending some time munching crabs in the pavilion (photo right) and sightseeing in the Anacostia park, she walked across the South Capitol St. bridge into the old neighborhood and turned right between the stadium and the river.

We stopped there because Salsa was getting quite tired after 2 1/2 hours of tracking and almost 5 miles. However, what we were able to answer is why did she just keep going and going, and the answer was, she didn't, she just is making much bigger circles. Also, the way that she was able to get across the river twice without any dead ends leads me to believe this is not her first trip around that block.

Postering needs to also be expanded to cover the park and the neighborhood (at least the big intersections) on the other side of I-295 between Pennsylvania Ave and S. Capitol St."

Olivia's Latest Tracked Route

Sam and Salsa came out for a track on 2-13-11. Here's the latest known route that Olivia has taken.

Also, I was just out this past Friday and spotted very large prints just to the east of the track's stopping point, so we're heading back out tomorrow (Sunday) morning to verify whether or not they're Olivia's. Keep your fingers crossed. It's a great location for her -- lots of discarded food along Canal St, a water source, a hiding spot or three (lots of woods and enclosed areas), etc.

Here's a photo of one of the paw prints I spotted (next to my giant foot for a size comparison). These are much bigger than a retriever, so we're hopeful.

And, to lighten the mood a little, although we haven't found Olivia yet, we have found a slew of other critters. Here are the best wildlife photos our surveillance cameras have taken to date:

+ Wildlife Photos (Flickr)

New Track: Olivia Has Moved Further East

Sam & Salsa's track today put Olivia still near the Randall Recreation Center in SW, but also tracking much further to the east within the last week -- mainly along M St SW and SE (past Navy Yard and heading toward Eastern Market). We'll post the exact track in the next day or two. We also found several very large paw prints all along the tracked route today.

We'll be putting up new fliers this week, which we hope will bring in a new sighting of Olivia soon!

New Paw Print & More Feeding Station Activity

We had new activity at the Randall Recreation Center feeding station today (7 of 10 milkbones were taken). We'll be checking the infrared camera soon; keep your fingers crossed that it's Olivia.

We also spotted a new, very large paw print today just to the North and East of her current known route. We'll be out tomorrow (Sunday) with Sam and Salsa for a brief track and fliering effort.

If you can participate tomorrow or any time this week, please call one of the numbers to the right or email allisonjhazen@gmail.com.

Thanks so much for all your help in bringing Olivia home!

New Paw Prints and An Urgent Request for Volunteers!

Great new, folks! Sam (our excellent tracker) and Laura (Livvie's foster Mom) just spotted new paw prints at Randall Rec Center (the site of one of our current feeding stations).

We have now set up an infrared camera at that feeding station so we can capture images of what ever has been eating the large Milk Bones at night; keep your finger's crossed at it's Olivia! We'll certainly keep you posted!

We need your help this week! We believe that Olivia has found shelter somewhere just North of the Randall Recreation Center. We plan to put up fliers in the area this week, but if you're available for an hour or two this weekend or next week and can either help by printing off fliers or putting some up, please email me at allisonjhazen@gmail.com.