Dog survives 24-day vigil in bush

Press, 1 November 1984, Page 1

Dog survives 24-day vigil in bush

By PETER COMER Ben, ace pig dog and much loved companion, is recuperating at his Christchurch home after being lost for 24 days in the depths of the Fiordland bush.

Ben, an eight-year-old battle-scarred veteran, had failed to return from chasing a pig on a hunting trip in the area of Fiordland’s inhospitable Wairaurahiri River (draining Lake Hauroko) with his master, Mr Winston McGregor, and Messrs Kevin Whitelaw and Harvey Taylor. The hunters spent five days searching for Ben before they had to make the bitter decision to leave him behind and return to civilisation.

They left a note in a hut, appealing for anyone who found Ben’s body to telephone Mr McGregor collect in Christchurch, to tell him of his faithful companion’s fate.

“He had tangled with a lot of pigs. I thought he had met his match at last —

either that or gone over a bluff,” said Mr McGregor.

He had sadly given up hope of Ben’s being found when, last Thursday, the telephone rang. The caller was the chief ranger of the Fiordland National Park Board. He had been checking the hut where Mr McGregor and his hunting companions stayed, when round the corner peered a very thin, sadlooking dog. The ranger knew Ben’s name from the message in the hut’s logbook. He called the dog, and the dog came. Ben was quickly on his way home, with a delighted Mr McGregor making the long trip south to collect him.

After eventually finding his way back to the remote hut, Ben had dug a hole under it to escape the sandflies, and waited for his master’s return.

He was very thin, probably not having eaten for 24 days, but was otherwise in remarkably good fettle. “We were pleased to see each other, I can tell you,” said Mr McGregor. Ben is now dining like a king.