If Disney is looking for a sequel to Homeward Bound, this is it: An 8-year-old Shar Pei mix named Georgia trekked through 35 miles of California canyons and suburbs to return home through the backyard doggy door after having been missing for nine days, The San Diego Union-Tribune reports. Georgia got lost while chasing a rabbit in Los Penasquitos Canyon Preserve in late June. Due to a high number of coyotes in the region, rangers told her owner, Kris Anderson, that the 30-pound dog likely wouldn't survive even a night.
However, at 8:30 a.m. over a week after she went missing, Georgia unexpectedly ran into Anderson's room and jumped on the bed. The dog was emaciated, covered in scratches, and in need of a good bath — but she somehow walked at least 35 miles home from the park, braving a storm, Fourth of July fireworks, traffic, and maybe even a coyote or two.
How animals find their way home after getting lost is a bit of a scientific mystery: In 1920, Bobbie the dog walked from Oregon to Indiana to get home, and in 2013, a Florida cat walked 200 miles home, to West Palm Beach from Daytona. Some scientists have found evidence that mammals can construct mental maps, similar to the way a rat finds its way out of a maze.
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We may never know how Georgia did it — it's just all the more reason to wish animals could talk.
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