We searched the barn, the garage, around the house, into the yard, through the fields, in the trees, around the garden spaces, and back, several times over.
We found marks in the driveway. A place where it looked like there had been a scuffle. There were pairs of dog footprints with deep claw marks, three sets of double-drag marks, and various scuff marks. It looks like the dogs had had a good tussle there, but there was no blood and all the footprints appeared to be small. I was assured that none of the dogs barked or whined and there were no scuffles this morning.
We took a walk down the driveway (it's a long driveway), and we walked down the road in either direction to see if she managed to get all the way down to the road, but there were no tire marks, no blood, no roadkill in the road or the ditches.
We went down the railroad tracks. A while ago two members of the family saw what they said was "a wolf or coyote" at the gate at the end of the driveway and when they drove past it, it ran out and down the railroad. The kids have mentioned seeing dog-like critters from time to time but they never stay long enough to be photographed. I figured if Rosie had been taken by a predator (let's be honest, we live out of town and there are wild animals and she disappeared when it was still dark out - anything is possible), that's a good place to look for remains.
We walked for quite a while, searching both sides of the tracks for any signs that something had had a recent meal. We reached a bridge and decided to turn around. We were maybe a minute away from the bridge when I turned around to check for oncoming trains and noticed the long silver glint of the track was obscured by something beyond the bridge that hadn't been there when we were at the bridge. At first it reminded me of when the crows sit on the traintracks near the driveway, but as I looked harder, it looked like something draped over the rail. I turned to #3 to let her know there was something on the tracks, and when I turned back around it appeared to be a large animal standing beside the tracks. If I had to identify it, it looked like a solid black deer at first. I glanced over to #3 to see if she was seeing this too, and when I turned back once more it was halfway between the tracks and the woods, walking perpendicular to the tracks so we could see it from the side. I can tell you a dog's breed as we drive by, I can identify roadkill while we're on long trips... but I cannot tell you what this thing was, as it passed by maybe 100 yards away. It was tall like a deer, but solid black and had a big shaggy tail like a dog. If I had to describe it - imagine a solid black maned wolf without the mane - that's what shape this was, but the height of a white-tailed deer. It didn't run away, it just saundered into the woods beside the tracks.
Being the people we are, #3 and I immediately headed toward the spot where this creature had crossed the tracks. If it was there, maybe our Rosie was there too. Remember that despite being quite a walk, we're only just beyond the boundary of our property at this point (we have 70 acres). We walked along the tracks, hypervigilant in case the large animal came back. We didn't see it again. On the opposite side of the tracks - where the creature likely came from, we found an interesting surprise though. The rusty twisted remains of the front of an old car. It was in the middle of nowhere and just beyond the treeline beside the tracks. We can only guess it's the remnants of a car vs train accident. We took several photos. When we decided to get back up to the tracks, as we came to the tracks, further down there was a deer. An actual white tailed deer. We both stopped and looked at one another, and then the deer hastly made a retreat in the same direction (but much further down the tracks) as the other creature had, flashing it's white tail as it dashed into the woods.
After some more searching and realizing we weren't going to find Rosie out this way, we turned and went back home. There was a large juvenile bald eagle flying over the yard when we got back to the house. We did another quick search of the property when we returned, but still found no sign of Rosie. Reluctantly, after over an hour and a half of searching in just-above-freezing temperatures, we made the hard choice to go back in the house, sure that Rosie was dead.
We checked local lost and found sites to see if anyone may have picked her up. We researched bald eagles and found that she would likely be too heavy for one to pick up. We attempted to research the car we found and couldn't find a single reported accident of a car and a train in the area.
A few hours later, we did another search of the property. Around the buildings, in the buildings, around the perimeter of the yard, through the trees and fields, up and down the driveway, to the places we'd found our barn birds when they'd been taken by predators in the past, down to the lake in case she'd gone for a drink, around the gardens, and in the outbuilding. Nothing. We took the big dogs out to see if they might find something.
Sure enough, it wasn't long until both Arya and Remus were sniffing around at something in the middle of one of the fields. I went to investigate and found an interesting sight. It was a brown pelt. Just laying there, in the middle of the field. A decent sized pelt, carefully skinned off of an animal, flesh side up. I was nervous to flip it over, as Rosie is also brown and white. I waited for #3 to get there before flipping it over. The raw skin was still soft and wet but the hide was stiff. The grass underneath was wet, from this morning's dew or yesterday's rain, I do not know. The fur was long and coarse, like a deer, but this pelt was much too small to be a deer. I have no idea what it is, but I know a human-skinned animal pelt does not belong on my property. Nobody should be on my land, and our property is fairly unique in that our dogs would have to cross a lake or a busy hughway to get to another property - so the likelyhood one of my own animals snagged it from somewhere else is slim. We have no idea where this pelt came from, but it stunk of rot when I picked it up. No use leaving it in the field for the dogs to get at.
Another circle around of the property. Still no signs of Rosie. At this point, it's been cold (the high today was 42 but it was in the 30's almost all day), Rosie has short fur. She gets cold easily, she doesn't like being outside for long, and she has separation anxiety so bad that she howls when her favorite human leaves for work. We'd been calling for her and searching all day. The hard truth is that she'd have made noise or come home if she was able to. Given the scuffle marks in the driveway and the presence of what appeared to be a large predator on the tracks just down the way from our property line, we had to face reality. Rosie is probably gone. All we can do is hope that it was a quick passing and she didn't suffer.
When we came in the house, I posted an ad on Craigslist, just to be sure all of my bases were covered. Maybe someone saw something, even with the road so far from the house.
An hour later, Rosie's favorite human came home. He had been plagued by guilt all day. He parked the car and came in to let the dogs out for a potty break. Arya went behind the vehicle toward the barn and started barking. He went to see what she was barking at, and there was Rosie. In a place we'd all searched several times. He immediately scooped her up and brought her in to me.
I grabbed a blanket and wrapped her up and held her in my lap. She was shivering, but her ears were warm. Her ears shouldn't be warm. We have no heat outside, nothing she could have kept herself warm with, and dachshunds have long ears - they get cold quickly. Once she stopped shivering, I looked her over. She seems to be fine. She has the same two marks on her arm from a scuffle with Arya a few days ago, but is otherwise unharmed.
Our running theory is that someone picked her up and took her home, and upon seeing our ad, dropped her off in the driveway where they found her. That would explain why her ears were warm and she hadn't died of exposure in the 12 hours she'd been missing. It explains why she didn't come when called, why she wasn't howling or barking for attention, why we couldn't find her anywhere.
I cannot explain the odd scuffle marks in the driveway, or the black deer wolf creature on the railroad tracks, or the mangled front portion of an old car, or the skinned animal hide in the field. #1 jokes that monsters tried to take Rosie and she fought her way back, and that's why it took so long to find her. I have no idea what kind of adventures she was on today, but I managed to get my steps in for the day long before noon. I ache everywhere and my face is pink and sore from being out in the cold for so long. Rosie does not appear to be any worse for the wear. Welcome home Rosie! You had us incredibly concerned today.