Bottom of the Food-chain!
There are literally thousands of private cabins in remote areas (usually on lake shores) of Saskatchewan, as well as in other Canadian provinces.
The vast majority are not occupied most of the time, but their owners do retire to them, mostly for fishing during summer months, for weeks, sometimes months, at a time.
Many, like the one described below, are accessible only by aircraft, and only during good weather.
Earlier the month, an elderly couple during their stay at such a remote cabin, was attacked and killed, probably by a black bear. Their mangled bodies were discovered during a search after they failed to show-up for their return flight.
The guilty bear was subsequently found nearby and “euthanized” (shot dead) by Troopers. I’m not sure how Troopers knew before they shot him that this particular bear was the perpetrator, but I understand stomach contents are being analyzed.
Unknown if this elderly couple had, or used, bear-spray. They were otherwise unarmed.
Such unprovoked bear attacks are on the rise in Canada, the USA, even Japan!
My comments:
1) Predators are no joke! All bears are dangerous, every species and in every location. The same caution applies to wolves, mountain lions, even coyotes. Attempting to classify “relative dangerousness” by species and subspecies is a grievous exercise in futility!
2) Unarmed humans who find themselves in remote wilderness are on the bottom of the food-chain! We can’t run very fast. We can’t fight effectively against aggressive predators. Most predators are not impressed with yelling and arm-waving, much less with bells. Climbing trees might help (at least temporarily), but not when bears or mountain lions are involved. And, when “playing dead,” you’ll usually get your wish!
Unarmed humans are routinely attacked, downed, and killed by pit bulls, often in their own back yards!
3) The prudent accept the foregoing reality, and arrange for themselves to move from the bottom of the food-chain to the top! One must be appropriately armed when encounters with dangerous predators are even a remote possibility. Pertinent weapons must be routinely carried on person, along with the willingness use them as needed, without hesitation nor apology.
4) Rationalization is not your friend! Telling yourself, “It probably won’t happen to me,” and “Someone else will save me,” is the province of fools!
5) Don’t buy the other guy’s lie! The official Saskatchewan government “Bear Aware” recommendations can be summarized as “lies by omission.” Nowhere do they admit that bears, even black bears, are known to hunt, attack, and eat humans.
We read, “When attacked by a bear, defend yourself.”
How? There is no mention of going armed. “Bear spray” is recommended, and it does work- sometimes!
Naive citizens are thus being “set-up” for victimization by clever lies and cynical omissions.
This is what governments do!
Accordingly, citizens must do their own thinking with regard to such matters of life and death.
“I’m not upset that you lied. I’m upset that from now on I can’t believe you.”
Friedrich Nietzsche
/John
