Lost in the Blinded Blizzard is the 16th book in the Hank the Cowdog

Hank the Cowdog

Hank the Cowdog is series of humorous children's mystery novels, written by John R. Erickson and illustrated by Gerald L. Holmes.The series began in 1982 with a couple of short stories about the proud but bumbling Hank, the self-styled "Head of Ranch Security"...

 series.

Plot

Starts off with Hank and Drover staying at Slim's house on the northside of the ranch

Ranch

A ranch is an area of landscape, including various structures, given primarily to the practice of ranching, the practice of raising grazing livestock such as cattle or sheep for meat or wool. The word most often applies to livestock-raising operations in the western United States and Canada, though...

. Has Hank and Drover sleeping inside when Hank hears an odd ringing, which turns out to be the telephone

Telephone

The telephone , colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that transmits and receives sounds, usually the human voice. Telephones are a point-to-point communication system whose most basic function is to allow two people separated by large distances to talk to each other...

. Hank then notices that while Slim is talking on the phone, a mouse

Mouse

A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...

 is sitting on Slim's foot. Hank jumps at the mouse and it goes running up Slim's leg and causes Slim to 'freak out.' Slim gets angry at Hank, so both Hank and Drover go into hiding. The next morning a truck comes up to Slim's house and in the back is Hank's love, the collie

Collie

The collie is a distinctive type of herding dog, including many related landraces and formal breeds. It originates in Scotland and Northern England. It is a medium-sized, fairly lightly built dog with a pointed snout, and many types have a distinctive white pattern over the shoulders. Collies...

 Beulah and her boyfriend the English Pointer

Pointer (dog breed)

The Pointer, often called the English Pointer, is a breed of dog developed as a gun dog. It is one of several pointing breeds.-Appearance:...

, Plato. Hank gets embarrassed when a flea

Flea

Flea is the common name for insects of the order Siphonaptera which are wingless insects with mouthparts adapted for piercing skin and sucking blood...

 starts biting him. Later that day, the ranch house calls Slim and tells him that Molly, the baby is sick, and he has medicine. A blizzard then hits. Slim and Hank try driving down in a truck but the truck goes off the ranch. Slim then gives Hank the responsibility of taking the medicine, tied around his neck, down to the house. The blizzard gets worse and worse and worse. And after about two hours after leaving Slim, Hank sees the two coyote

Coyote

The coyote , also known as the American jackal or the prairie wolf, is a species of canine found throughout North and Central America, ranging from Panama in the south, north through Mexico, the United States and Canada...

 brothers, Rip and Snort. The coyotes say that they are hungry for heart

Heart

The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system , that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions...

, dog heart, Hank's heart. Hank is walking away from the coyotes after trying to out sing them, and he meets the burrowing owl

Burrowing Owl

The Burrowing Owl is a tiny but long-legged owl found throughout open landscapes of North and South America. Burrowing Owls can be found in grasslands, rangelands, agricultural areas, deserts, or any other open dry area with low vegetation. They nest and roost in burrows, such as those excavated...

, Madam Moonshine, and her rattlesnake

Rattlesnake

Rattlesnakes are a group of venomous snakes of the genera Crotalus and Sistrurus of the subfamily Crotalinae . There are 32 known species of rattlesnake, with between 65-70 subspecies, all native to the Americas, ranging from southern Alberta and southern British Columbia in Canada to Central...

sidekick, Timothy. Madam Moonshine says that Timothy could easily beat the coyotes in a fight. So the coyotes attack Timothy and Hank and Madam Moonshine walk away. Madam Moonshine says that Timothy will be alright. Hank then continues to the ranch and gives them the medicine.

Characters

• Hank- Head of Ranch Security, unknown crossbreed
• Drover- Hank's assistant, unknown crossbreed
• Slim Chance- Ranch Hand, human, lives on the northside of the ranch in a cabin
• Beulah- collie, Hank is in love with her, she lives on the neighboring ranch
• Plato- English Pointer, lives on the neighboring ranch, the boyfriend of Beulah
• Rip- coyote, was one a friend of Hank but in the end began working for Hank's number one enemy, Scraunch, now he is an antagonist in many of the books
• Snort- coyote, brother of Rip. Works for Scraunch as well, he is also an antagonist in many of the books
• High Loper- owner off the ranch, is married to Sally May, has two children with her
• Pete- Head of Mouse Control, barncat, him and Hank have never been friends