Princess was hunting bear when she fell off a cliff. She was trapped for 36 hours, NC officials say
It sounds like something from a fairy tale. A Princess was trapped after a possible encounter with powerful, hairy creature in Transylvania, only to be rescued.
But in this case, Princess was a Plott hound, and the monster was a bear in the woods of North Carolina, WYFF-4 reported. The 5-month-old dog’s owner said there’s a “good possibility” a bear knocked his pup down an embankment onto a steep cliff, where she was trapped for nearly two days.
The thing that especially makes this seem like it was taken from a fable is the fairy-tale ending.
More than two dozen rescuers helped get Princess off the Transylvania County ledge before reuniting the dog with her owners Monday, according to WLOS.
Before being saved with a “high-angle rescue,” Princess was stuck in Windy Falls, near Gorges State Park, foxcarolina.com reported.
She wound up in that precarious position Saturday, on a bear hunting trip in the rural area, per WYFF-4.
If Princess did find a bear, that’s not a surprise. Plott hounds have been bred to hunt bears since the 1750s, according to Carolina Sportsman. The American Kennel Club said the state dog of North Carolina is “fearless, implacable, and bold at work.”
According to her owner, Trevor Burrell, Princess was the pick of the litter, as he called her “first in the state,” WLOS reported. The TV station said Burrell and Princess ventured far to find bear, and she got trapped in a spot where rescuers had to ride ATVs for an hour before hiking for another 45 minutes.
“There was bear signs where she went off at, so we think there’s a good possibility she got knocked off by a bear,” Burrell said, according to WYFF-4.
After slipping, Princess was trapped on a rock cliff for 36 hours, foxcarolina.com reported.
She was stranded in a spot with an “80-100 foot drop below,” according to Ryan Hyman of the Transylvania County Rescue Squad, who said he participated in the rescue because “if it was my dog, I would want someone to do the same,” per WLOS.
No shining armor was needed to complete this fairy tale.
This story was originally published November 5, 2018 at 10:05 PM with the headline "Princess was hunting bear when she fell off a cliff. She was trapped for 36 hours, NC officials say."