Rescue Dog Sniffs Out Ancient Bones

[Mila's Mum]

http://www.couriermail.com.au/questnews/moreton/the-worlds-first-archaeology-dog-migaloo-sniffs-out-ancient-bones/story-fn8m0yu3-1226642341111

Move over Indiana Jones, there is a new dog in town.

Meet Migaloo the wonder-pup who can sniff out 600-year-old bones more than 2m underground with her sharp sense of smell and keen eye for adventure.

The three-year-old black labrador mix has been hailed as the first archaeology dog in the world.

Owner Gary Jackson found Migaloo at a rescue centre 14 months ago and says they have been inseparable ever since.

"She's a really special pup. She had the drive we needed for the job and was absolutely ball crazy," he said.

After only a year on the job, Migaloo already holds the world record for the oldest archaeological find by a dog.

"The previous record was 174-year-old remains from the US civil war," Mr Jackson said.

Migaloo made the startling find at an Aboriginal burial ground in South Australia, where a 600-year-old grave had been found a few years ago.

"We were given about an acre to search, the elders and museum officials knew where the graves were, but not us," he said.

"But within two minutes, Migaloo was circling the spot and clawing at the ground and digging and it was exactly where the grave was."

"It was remarkable because bones that old don't have any flesh left on them, yet she still smells something!"

Her helpful snout has even managed to sniff out fossils dated by palaeontologists at between 2.6million and 5.3million years old.

Narangba-based Gary Jackson, who has been training dogs for more than 30 years, taught Migaloo using 250-year-old Aboriginal bones borrowed from the South Australian Museum.

He trained her to recognise their odour in the hope the duo will be able to uncover more hidden treasures in archaeological digs. His canine students have worked with indigenous elders to recover old ceremonial sites and have helped police in the Ivan Milat/backpacker murder investigation.

He hopes he and Migaloo will be able to unearth some dinosaur bones near Roma in the next two weeks.

"I'd love to get the chance to search another dinosaur area but I think Migaloo is more concerned about getting to sink her teeth into her tennis ball," he said.

[persephone]

EXCELLENT :) :)

[Tazar]

Love hearing about all the wonderful things doggies do :)

[Mudlark]

Seriously amazing. Can't begin to imagine what having a dog's sense of smell would be like.

[tikira]

Wow, is their nothing a dog can't do? How significant could this talent prove to be

Thanks for sharing.

Di

[Kavik]

Migaloo is also featured in the April DogsNSW gazette (although they use a stock standard Lab picture instead of a picture of Migaloo herself)

[Mila's Mum]

(although they use a stock standard Lab picture instead of a picture of Migaloo herself)