Castaway Pooch Survived 4 Months on Island

A family pet who was washed overboard during a November sailing trip has turned up on a remote Australian island, the BBC reports. Sophie Tucker, an Australian cattle dog, swam some 5 miles and survived on baby goats until she was found by rangers who patrol St. Bees Island. "We wish she could talk, we truly do," said her owner.

Before they were contacted by her owners, the rangers thought Sophie Tucker was a wild dog. "She wouldn't let anyone go near her or touch her," her owner said. But the family had a happy reunion, she said: "We called the dog and she started whimpering and banging the cage and when they let her out she just about flattened us." (More dog stories.)