Thermal drone search for a missing animal

How a search works

• You tell us where the animal was last seen and which areas you want covered, and we fly those areas wherever it is legal and safe to do so
• We walk you through what we are doing and what you will be looking at, then get the aircraft up, usually about five minutes after arrival
• The camera reads heat signatures, so a warm body shows through tall grass, brush, treelines and the space under a deck or a trailer
• The drone carries two cameras. The thermal camera picks up the heat, and the high resolution zoom camera shows us what animal it is before anyone is sent to check
• We report each position once the zoom camera confirms it, with coordinates and a described location you can walk to
• Approaching, catching and bringing the animal home stays with you and your ground team, because a frightened animal comes to a familiar voice

When we fly, and why the timing matters

Two windows work best: the last few hours before sunset, and from first light through early morning before the ground warms up. In both, the ground is cool enough that a warm body stands out, and there is still enough daylight to see what we are looking at.

That second part matters more than it sounds. A thermal camera shows heat, not identity. A warm shape in a treeline reads much the same whether it is a dog, a deer, a coyote or a moose. That is why the drone carries a high resolution zoom camera alongside the thermal one: we zoom in on every heat signature and confirm what it is before we tell you where to go, and we fly when there is light for that second look. An overcast day widens the window, because without direct sun the ground holds less heat and contrast stays usable for longer.

What a flight is really for

Some searches end with the animal found. Others end with a large area cleared and the owner knowing where their pet is not. Both are worth flying, and the second one is worth saying plainly, because the alternative is what owners usually do instead: walking unfamiliar ground in the dark, along highway shoulders, down river valley banks, across ice, on their own and exhausted, hour after hour.

A flight covers that ground from the air in a fraction of the time and sends people to the signatures worth walking to. The ground search gets shorter, happens in daylight, and happens in the places most likely to matter. That is the help on offer, and it holds whether or not the animal turns up.

What shapes a search

Every search is different, and the things that move the odds are worth knowing before we fly rather than after:

• How long since the animal was last seen, and how far it could plausibly have travelled in that time
• The size of the area and what is in it, since open pasture reads very differently from dense bush or a river valley
• Ground temperature and contrast, which is why a cold overcast morning gives a longer usable window than a warm sunny afternoon
• The animal's size, age and condition, and whether it is moving or holed up somewhere sheltered
• Whether there is a ground team we can direct, since a position is only useful if someone can reach it

We will tell you honestly what a flight is likely to achieve in your situation before you commit to it.

How to get ready

• Have a recent photo and the last seen time and place
• Tell us up front about every area you want covered, so we can plan one visit around all of them
• Keep the area quiet during the flight, with people and other pets settled indoors, so the heat we see is the heat we are looking for
• Have a leash, a carrier and familiar food ready to go
• Let us know about livestock, neighbouring properties and anything on the ground we should plan around