Only Rayne Beau, a house cat from Salinas, California, knows how he survived 60 days on his own and traveled 800 miles from Yellowstone National Park to a shelter in Roseville, California, about 200 miles from home.
Rayne Beau was traveling with his owners, Benny and Susanne Anguiano, camping in Yellowstone National Park in June. For reasons known only to himself, the cat got spooked, ran off into the wilderness at their campsite and disappeared.
The Anguianos told KSBW TV news in Salinas this week that they spent several days trying to find Rayne Beau and lure him back, while at the same time fearing the worst when he wasn’t found.
“We had to leave without him,” Susanne told reporter Zoe Hunt. “That was the hardest day because I felt like I was abandoning him.”
On her public Facebook page Wednesday, she posted photos of the cat, which is noticeably thinner for his two-month odyssey, having lost about 40% of his body weight.
Imagine the couple’s surprise and delight when they got a call that Rayne Beau had been found. He had been identified through his microchip at the Placer SPCA in Roseville, California, more than 800 miles from Yellowstone.
Roseville is about 200 miles from Salinas, Rayne Beau’s home.
Somehow, the intrepid cat had survived Yellowstone and made the incredible journey back to California.
But how?
While there have been stories of pets traveling long distances to return home, most of them weren’t lost for days in the wilds of Yellowstone National Park with its famous grizzly bears, wolves and coyotes.
A Scientist’s Mind
Wildlife biologist Robert Crabtree enjoyed hearing the story of the loss and miraculous return of Rayne Beau. But after looking it over with “a good scientist’s mind,” his cat-like curiosity was piqued.
“We know the cat was last seen in the campground, and then it was next seen at Roseville,” he told Cowboy State Daily. “I haven’t seen any data that it actually traveled the distance. It's not impossible that the cat traveled alone, but there's just no data to support that right now.”
Based on his knowledge of animals and Yellowstone, Crabtree believes Rayne Beau had help along his 1,000-mile journey back to Salinas, California. He even noted that the cat’s owner, Susanne Anguiano, seemed to have the same idea in the KSBW interview.
“I noticed that the owner said, ‘If anybody saw him along the way, that would be great,’” he said. “I think that's a good scientist’s mind there. Where's the data to show the cat actually traveled that distance? I kind of doubt that he did.”
It’s more likely the cat either hitched a ride with someone or with the Anguianos themselves, that he could’ve been hiding or caught somehow in their vehicle or gear, then got out in Roseville.
Carnivore County
For Rayne Beau to travel hundreds of miles to Roseville, he’d first have to survive the wilds of Yellowstone.
Whatever spunk that cat has, Crabtree is highly skeptical that a domestic housecat would last long in that environment.
“That cat would be toast after one night out,” he said. “Especially with coyotes around. Yeah, they go out of their way to find them. If that cat were alone, it would be a quick snack.”
While a domestic cat could be a rare delicacy for many Yellowstone predators, coyotes are known cat-killers in urban and rural areas. Crabtree noted that coyotes are abundant around Yellowstone’s campgrounds, making the peril even greater for an escaped California cat.
“A coyote can smell a cat a mile away,” he said. “If it was alone out in the woods with coyotes, wolves, mountain lions and foxes, that cat would be dead.”
The Impossible Journey?
If a California cat surviving and escaping Yellowstone National Park is an incredible story, its 800-mile journey from northwest Wyoming to California would be an even more unbelievable achievement.
That’s another reason why Crabtree is skeptical of Rayne Beau’s itinerary.
“There are stories of these long-distance migrations by cats and dogs,” he said. “If there were any credence to those, it would have been an animal familiar with a landscape. This animal didn't know where it was or abandoned, so how could it find its way to Roseville if it didn't know what direction and distance to travel?”
The animal kingdom is full of incredible journeys of great distances, and the mechanisms that make them possible are well-understood. Domestic cats aren’t known for their navigational skills, he said.
Crabtree believes Rayne Beau would’ve been utterly lost in Yellowstone, a completely different landscape from central California. Finding his way home would have needed skills that have yet to be discovered anywhere in the animal kingdom.
“Wild mammals have that ability to go quite a distance, but it's exceptionally rare and usually only happens when they’re dropped off in a landscape they're familiar with,” he said. “Bears get taken 10 or 20 miles away from one spot and find their way back. There’s a lot of cues that they could be using to get a general sense of where they are.”
Crabtree said some species of birds are known to geolocate, giving them a rough sense of latitude that helps guide them during their migrations. Most migrations, like mule deer across Wyoming, rely on memory passed down from generation to generation. But that’s learned, not intrinsic or evolved.
To get home, Rayne Beau would need to determine latitude and, more importantly, longitude. No animal is known to have a way to determine longitude, and humanity only mastered that essential navigation concept within the last 300 years.
A Handsome Cat
While the methods of Rayne Beau’s journey can be debated, there’s no doubt that the cat disappeared in Yellowstone and turned up in California.
How did Rayne Beau do it? Crabtree has a theory.
“I think one very plausible explanation is that the park has millions of visitors at that time of year,” he said. “Someone could have picked up the cat near the campground and then drove it back to California. Then, maybe somewhere around Roseville or nearby, the cat ran away. I mean, that's one handsome cat.”
Rayne Beau isn’t disclosing any details of his ordeal. He’s settled back into the comfort of his Salinas home with the Anguianos. He hasn't said if he’s considering any publication or movie deals.
Details aside, Crabtree still thinks Rayne Beau’s story is engaging and inspiring.
“It's just a fascinating story, no matter what the reason is on how the cat got to Roseville,” he said. “'My guess is that this handsome cat got picked up, with all the millions of visitors coming out of the gateway communities, and got a ride to California. Nonetheless, it’s a fascinating story and quite the cat.”
Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.
