Elk hunters often access difficult terrain and landscapes that not too many other people ever experience. A husband and wife recently discovered maybe the last thing they expected to see as they were 11,000 feet up in the High Unitas Wilderness Area in northeast Utah.
They approached a pile of logs and saw something move.
“He saw black and white, and thought that he saw a skunk,” Jamie Miller, wife of Willis, told KSL-TV.
Instead, the Millers found four puppies and their mother. Willis tried as he could to reach the puppies but could not so the couple returned to their home in suburban Salt Lake City.
“We both bawled,” she said. “We both cried. We knew that these dogs weren’t going to die out there.”
The Millers returned the next weekend, used a winch from their side-by-side to carefully remove the logs and finally reached the den. They pulled out the puppies and also lured in the mother.
A veterinarian since checked out the dogs. The mother is recovering from an infection and the puppies, said to be about seven weeks old, are doing fine and already have new adopted homes although they are still eating bugs and leaves.
(Video & photo source: KSL-TV)