20060611 Few Bears Around
At the moment we see few bears around Brooks Camp. This will change toward the end of the month. Interpreters, law enforcement officers, and bear techs will be working hard to keep the public as safe as possible, the bears as safe as possible, and to allow the bears to behave as naturally as possible. We do this by keeping people at least 50 yards from bears at all times. This is not always possible given the number of people and bears that can be here at one time.
When exactly will the bears arrive? Rex, a shall we say...colorful, fishing guide/luggage monkey/bus driver believes the sockeye salmon will run this year toward the end of June. The bears will be here then, as Rex attests that the bears have a nose for the fish.
Meantime our bear techs are working hard to find something to do. Imes Vaughn, bear tech extraordinaire and Southern Gentleman from Arkansas, was sitting next to me in the ranger station recently composing an email. He began to recite to me his missive to his family. I asked for permission to include it in my own communication to you. Gentleman that he is, Imes graciously agreed.
Included are a couple of images of Imes and Eric, another bear tech, doing what they must do at times here in Brooks Camp--haze a bear. I have been asked to inform you that in these images Imes and Eric are closer that what the park management recommends, even for bear techs. Following those two images you'll see an image, also shot here at Brooks Camp, that I think demonstrates the courage of the bear techs who interact with these potentially violent animals on a daily basis.
From Imes to his family:
Few bears around but all these new people haven't seen anything yet. It usually starts with a bang. They don't give you much time to ease into it; they just seem to show up all at once. It’s always the same with the new people. They think they understand what’s going to happen but they have a false sense of security. It will be pandemonium, pure chaos, for the first few days. They don't know how quickly people are going to have to react. And the communication on the radio-- Whose number is whose what’s my number. Be quick and precise, somebody else needs to talk. Move those people that away, move them back this way. Get, those people off the beach. One’s [a bear] in the meadow! One’s coming down the beach. Don't let that plane take off. One’s cutting toward the corner. One’s in camp by the ranger station--honk goes the air horn.
Imes
When exactly will the bears arrive? Rex, a shall we say...colorful, fishing guide/luggage monkey/bus driver believes the sockeye salmon will run this year toward the end of June. The bears will be here then, as Rex attests that the bears have a nose for the fish.
Meantime our bear techs are working hard to find something to do. Imes Vaughn, bear tech extraordinaire and Southern Gentleman from Arkansas, was sitting next to me in the ranger station recently composing an email. He began to recite to me his missive to his family. I asked for permission to include it in my own communication to you. Gentleman that he is, Imes graciously agreed.
Included are a couple of images of Imes and Eric, another bear tech, doing what they must do at times here in Brooks Camp--haze a bear. I have been asked to inform you that in these images Imes and Eric are closer that what the park management recommends, even for bear techs. Following those two images you'll see an image, also shot here at Brooks Camp, that I think demonstrates the courage of the bear techs who interact with these potentially violent animals on a daily basis.
From Imes to his family:
Few bears around but all these new people haven't seen anything yet. It usually starts with a bang. They don't give you much time to ease into it; they just seem to show up all at once. It’s always the same with the new people. They think they understand what’s going to happen but they have a false sense of security. It will be pandemonium, pure chaos, for the first few days. They don't know how quickly people are going to have to react. And the communication on the radio-- Whose number is whose what’s my number. Be quick and precise, somebody else needs to talk. Move those people that away, move them back this way. Get, those people off the beach. One’s [a bear] in the meadow! One’s coming down the beach. Don't let that plane take off. One’s cutting toward the corner. One’s in camp by the ranger station--honk goes the air horn.
Imes
posted by Tim at 7:09 PM
.jpg)
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home