When my husband Murray was a Fish and Wildlife officer in the 1970s, '80s and '90s, he would occasionally go after problem bears and cougars alone.
Once, he took me along on horseback, as another set of eyes when he rode with a rancher looking for a cougar that had mauled a mare a few hours earlier. This was an odd case, he said, when we found evidence that the mare had severely injured the cat before she died, protecting her foal.
Another time he had to deal with a snared grizzly bear alone, which had killed several cattle, for several hours after daybreak before backup arrived.
Sometimes I wonder how he made it through 30 years, most of the time alone and unarmed.
I have to give the Alberta FWEB (Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Branch) full credit for being leaders in Canada now, with this advanced predator control training and the equipment to go with it.
Carol Bates,
Sundre
