Christmas Day Update

Update from Sue:

We had a confirmed Thunder sighting at 10 o'clock on Christmas morning up behind the bowling alley on Dranesville & Woodson Roads in Sterling. Initially it seems way off his usual path but it is at the very end of Sugarland Run Valley Stream Park (SRVSP) -- if he followed the stream bed it would take him right there.

The people who saw him are neighbors of ours who know him -- they are up in that area visiting their son. Said he was trotting along Rabbit Run heading west and turned toward Frederick Street where they lost him.

From Frederick he could head down Sterling Road towards Herndon, cut over to Church Street, or back toward Sugarland Run, all areas where he has been sighted before. They got within ten feet of him, out calling encouragingly from their car, before he got away --said he looked strong and in good shape, ears and tail were up, and he seemed to know where he was going.

We are going to drop flyers in both English and Spanish off at the bowling alley when/if it opens later today, and they took flyers back to the Woodson neighborhood to hand out

Yesterday I received two calls with retroactive sightings:

Last Saturday he was seen during the snow storm in the 1200 block of Sterling Road at Herndon Parkway around 9 AM playing in someone's backyard. The caller was driving and did not stop, but he is sure it was Thunder and the sighting is consistent with the Herndon Parkway loop.

The other caller put him behind Herndon High School last Thursday night -- this makes sense in light of today's sighting since that neighborhood backs up to SRVSP at the Dranesville Road end. He was playing in her backyard with her dogs and ran when she called him.

Now we have the northeast Sterling quadrant to add to the Herndon Parkway loop for consistent sightings, with both tied together by the Sugarland Run.

I am hoping the next sighting comes from back at the Elden Street/Herndon Parkway/Carlisle Drive area that he seemed to be making home base over the past week.

We are picking up scent pads tomorrow and plan to hang them around along the fence line behind the Herndon Police Station in SRVSP between the two feeding stations he may have used. Hopefully he will catch the scent and remain nearby.

Sandy is sending scent pads from Eli, his best dog buddy; Ocean, his sister who is coming into heat; and some of her own shirts. With these we may be able to lure him into a vehicle or trap. Advice on how best to proceed is welcome!

The food at the new station was gone this morning, even the kibble. Yesterday I saw a hawk feeding on the beef and chicken we left, so all I can say with confidence is that something is being fed. A fox might eat kibble, but we will refill the station just in case it might be Tundie.


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