20060531 Armed And Dangerous

Finally, the last day of training. After a bit of in-class and practical instruction using blanks, my fellow interpreters and myself are now the proud custodians of real cans of pepper spray. They come complete with holsters and we are duly authorized to carry them for use on bears. In four previous seasons of bear management here our bear tech Iames Vaughn has yet to use his, but advised us to practice our quick draw. You never know you know.

Three weeks of training are complete. Showtime begins tomorrow with the arrival of 17 elderhostel attendees, senior citizens on educational field trips. Mercifully for them as well as us they bring their own instructors.

Over the past three weeks we have endured training sessions on geology, cultural history, aquatic ecosystems, bear biology, bear behavior, bear management, people management, cpr and first aid, ethics, fire extinguishers, boat operation, ditched aircraft escape, computer hardware and software, how to be an interpreter, and a few I cannot remember.

So at this point we possess a little bit of knowledge on a number of topics, which makes us armed and dangerous.