Residents of Castle Rock in Cowlitz County, Washington, considered their city a rather “sleepy” place. With an average population of 2,000, the community is covered in dense forests and peaceful nature trails…not exactly a city with excitement around every corner.
That’s what made the call that authorities received one Saturday evening so unusual. It had been a quiet day, after all, and the Cowlitz County police were just settling into their nightly patrol when they got the first alert: Something was wrong in Castle Rock.
Well, not wrong, exactly — just out of place. “It just doesn’t sound right,” said Troy Brightbill, the chief criminal deputy at the sheriff’s office. When he first heard the strange story called in by a truck driver, he was skeptical at best.
Dispatchers had trouble understanding the driver’s story. Someone made a wrong turn? Were they hurt? Did they need an ambulance? “I’m sorry,” dispatchers told the stunned good samaritan, unsure if they’d heard him correctly. Had he said “feline?”
Inlander
No, the driver asserted. Something far bigger than a cat was in the middle of the road, and when the dispatchers finally understood what he was seeing, they immediately alerted the authorities…and Washington’s Department of Fish and Wildlife.
When police arrived on the scene, they heard the weirdest sound yet: roaring. How on earth did a lion end up in Castle Rock? That’s when they saw where the sound was coming from, and though the creature was missing a wild mane of hair, it definitely had whiskers.
Stranger Things/Netflix
In the middle of the road was a sea lion. As the authorities looked on with shock, the sea lion waddled from one side of the road to the other, roaring and barking all the while. For the wildlife officers, three things were certain right from that first glance.
Jeff Bergman/KGW8
The sea lion was female, around 600-700 pounds, and clearly lost. Still, the weirdest part for Scott Schroeder, one of the responding wildlife officers, was the location. He described the landscape as a “rolling, forested” area — not exactly a sea lion’s usual haunt.
But the authorities couldn’t focus on the “why” of it all just then. They had to figure out how the heck they’d get this enormous sea lion back where she belonged without her hurting them or them hurting her.
Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office and Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
Unfortunately, “sea lion wrangling” isn’t exactly covered at the police academy. The road they were all gathered on was dark, winding, and surrounded by thick woods. If an officer got too close, her small barks turned into a much scarier sound.
Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office and Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
Bone-chilling roars. “She was very aggressive,” Schroeder said of the alarmed animal. “If you got within 20 feet of her, she would go after you.” And to make matters worse, the authorities were quickly picking up on the sea lion’s most unexpected skill.
She was fast. “As we’ve learned, they’re fairly mobile on land,” Brightbill said. Schroeder said the sea lion would lunge “like an alligator” at anyone who got too close. “She was certainly full of spit and vinegar,” he described…until she revealed another surprising trait.
National Geographic
“There’s no other way to say it,” Schroeder declared. “They’re fairly cute animals.” It couldn’t be denied, even to the shaken authorities, that the sea lion looked good on camera. She actually posed for a selfie with Sgt. Corey Huffine! One thing was clear to the officers.
Sgt. Corey Huffline
No matter how threatening she was, they wouldn’t be able to wrangle her back to the water anytime that night. They hoped that monitoring her overnight while she waddled her way back to the water would be the extent of their involvement…but they were wrong.
Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office and Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
The police received another 911 call, and then another. “The problem was it just kept moving,” Brightbill said. She kept moving alright, just not towards the Columbia river, where she came from. By the time the other officers found her, she was two miles from home.
They couldn’t just sit and stare at her any longer — they needed backup. By Sunday afternoon, crews from the humane society, the county’s public works office, the state wildlife department, and the sheriff’s office had all arrived…and with one unified plan.
Captain America: Civil War/Disney
Their mission? To corral the animal all the way back to the river. The abundance of smelt in the Columbia river made it a popular home for hundreds of sea lions. It was imperative that this wayward sea lion make her way home — and only together could they get her there.
This was easier said than done. The team used large planks of wood to lead the jumpy sea lion in the right direction, making sure to keep their distance if she got frustrated. “I think everybody had a face full of sea lion breath more than once,” Shroeder described.
Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office and Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
Sea lion breath or not, the mission finally had a lucky break when the sea lion found herself in someone’s driveway. The crews grabbed their wooden plank shields and, as carefully and non-threateningly as possible, slowly guided her towards the cage.
Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office and Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
The crews worked slowly in hopes that doing so would keep the sea lion from lashing out. She inched closer and closer to the cage, and for a moment, the authorities could almost taste victory…until she suddenly veered off course.
Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office and Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
But as quickly as she’d turned, she was right back where they wanted her to be: Inside the cage. Finally, the sea lion was off the road and out of harm’s way. But the police couldn’t relax just yet.
With the sea lion in tow, the crews drove to Willow Grove boat ramp in Longview, where they returned her to the Columbia River. Schroeder, Brightbill, and the other crew members watched her swim away with just one thought.
Cowlitz County Sheriff’s Office and Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
They knew that the tale of the lost sea lion and her perplexed rescuers would go down as one of the most bizarre — and adorable! — happenings in Castle Rock. Surprisingly, though, many critters find themselves lost in quiet towns like Castle Rock.
