In the end, it was the baboons that got under Milo’s skin. The seven-year-old beagle had just moved from Dubai to Betty’s Bay in the Western Cape a month ago when he made his escape.
Owner Tracy Pieterse said he may have made his getaway when her husband Cilliers went to town.
What is known is that on Monday morning at about 9am Milo snuck out. About 20 minutes later, Pieterse noticed he had disappeared. And he was finally rescued from the top of the Kogelberg Mountain range – 2km from home – after 6pm that day.
The highest mountain in the Kogelberg Mountain range is Koeëlberg, or Bullet Mountain, rising to 1,289m above Koeël Bay. Kogelberg is made up predominantly of sandstone, and has the steepest and highest drop in SA directly into the ocean.
“Milo is very sore from his adventure,” Pieterse said. “His pads are all totally ripped, it was serious. He had to have an injection for pain. He uses antibacterial cream on his wounds, and he has to wear the cone of shame!” This is in reference to the vet’s cone, which is strapped to the head – reaching past the nose – to stop dogs from licking their wounds.
Pieterse points out beagles usually live to 14 years – “so it could have been a midlife crisis” that sent him packing.
“He’s seen the baboons as they come past the house. He watches them from a specific window every day. Perhaps he was searching for the baboons’ scent and tried his luck? How he got as far as he got, I’ll never know.
"[On Monday morning] I left him sleeping with the cat next to him. All was fine. I took a call, but when I was done I didn’t see him. I thought, that little bugger’s on the bed again! He knows he’s not allowed on our bed.
“He must have escaped when my husband went to town. I don’t know when exactly, but it must have been about 20 minutes before I noticed he was gone.”
Pieterse was frantic and went searching all around their home for Milo. Then she turned to Facebook and made a missing poster for Milo. She posted it to several Facebook community groups.
“The community is amazing. The post was shared over 100 times. I am so happy with my new community. People came and helped. They brought flashlights – a lady from Pringle Bay even got in her car and drove all way to us [about 10km away].”
The woman told Pieterse a man living on a smallholding at the base of the Kogelberg Mountain range had heard a dog barking since 3.30pm. It was already 4.45pm and bad weather was rolling in.
“Once we heard about his bark, there was no way’s we were going to leave him up there with a cold front and a storm moving in. He’s a softie – there’s no way he would survive.
My message to SA during Covid is that there is still good in 2020. Never give up. Everyone said if he’s in the mountains – he’s gone. But we can’t give up.
— Tracy Pieterse
“He was probably sitting up there waiting for his Voss water [an ‘artisanal’ water from Norway costing R150 for 800ml].
“But people did say if he’s gone over the mountain then he’d be lost forever.”
Pieterse began calling Milo and heard his bark. She kept climbing, each time calling him so she could determine if she was getting closer.
“I kept calling: ‘Do you want some foooood Milo?’ and I saw his white tail go mad. I was hoping he wasn’t cornering some dangerous animal up there. Besides the baboons there are snakes and even leopards on the mountain.”
She was 80% of the way up the mountain when her stepson Riaan Pieterse arrived from neighbouring town Kleinmond, where he had finished his shift as a technician for a security company.
“After work I heard Milo had gone,” Riaan, 26, told Sunday Times Daily on Tuesday.
“I came to help out. I heard he may be at the top of the mountain. When I got there I saw Tracy [climbing the mountain] and I went to help. I caught up with her and then went on ahead.
“Milo was close to the top. He was very energetic when I first saw him, but he was very scared, he wanted to go down, but he got scared every time he looked over the edge.
“Getting up the mountain was the easy part.”
Pieterse said it was so steep that Riaan had to slide on his bottom, with Milo sitting on his lap, to get down.
Riaan said: “I’ve never been up there before. It has an excellent view.”
Riaan moved to Kleinmond a year and a half ago. Cilliers and Tracy moved back to SA after Cilliers lost his job as an A380 captain with Emirates Dubai during the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown in the UAE.
Said Pieterse: “We brought the dog and cat over, and they’re still getting used to the area.
“When Milo got home he got a head bump from the cat. Hearing him snore that night was heartening. I now love that sound.”
Milo’s new nickname is The Mountain Goat.
