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Todd Corillo Blog: Searching for Bella (and the other critters I found)

Posted at 3:49 PM, May 28, 2013
and last updated 2013-05-28 20:32:02-04

As a reporter, I never know what adventures any given day will bring. Today’s brought me to Suffolk where photographer Nick Allen and I were on the hunt for missing thoroughbred horse named Bella.

You see, yesterday Donijo Atkins was out riding Bella when something spooked the massive horse, causing her to buck Atkins and take off. Unlike a missing cat or dog, a missing 1,200 pound horse can be a big problem – especially one that is jet black in a rural area at night.

So today, Atkins and scores of volunteers were out searching for Bella before she gets hit by a car. Along the way, we ran into a quite a few critters. My co-workers here at NewsChannel 3 affectionately call me the Critter Reporter for this very reason.

Among what we saw – snakes, a lot of dogs (including several tracking Bella’s scent) and bear paw prints! The prints were interesting – several were very large and were alongside some small ones, suggesting a mother bear and her cub!

Nick and I also took home some critters unintentionally – ticks! Lots and lots of ticks. We’ve been double and triple checking ourselves since we’ve been back – I had 20 on me alone.