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When and why ignoring fear might save your life

Avoiding wild animals is the safest choice for campers and hikers, Barrhead and District Fish and Wildlife officer Derek Brendzan said, and in instances where that is not possible, he stressed people should not run.

Avoiding wild animals is the safest choice for campers and hikers, Barrhead and District Fish and Wildlife officer Derek Brendzan said, and in instances where that is not possible, he stressed people should not run.

After numerous sightings of black bears along sections of Highway 33, and Highway 763, Brendzan reminds residents what they should, and should not do, when confronted by a dangerous animal.

“Anywhere you go in Alberta you’re in bear country,” he said, adding grizzlies and black bears, along with wolves, cougars and coyotes, can all be found in this area.

“If you come across one in the county, or in town, it is sufficient to contact the Fish and Wildlife office in Barrhead. If it happens in a provincial or national park however, you’re more likely going to want to contact Alberta Environment and Parks or the office of Sustainable Resource Development,” he added.

In Barrhead and the surrounding areas, Brendzan said black bears and grizzlies are common, as are cougars, wolves and coyotes.

One of the biggest misconceptions is that bears cannot climb trees, Brendzan said, adding this is not the case.

“All bears can climb, but grizzlies prefer to knock the whole tree down instead, so don’t think you’ll get away if you tree yourself,” he added.

In Brendzan’s opinion, if you are confronted with a grizzly bear, the best thing to do is play possum.

“You may get rolled around and beaten up a bit, but you’ll still be alive. Run and it’s probably over. Black bears can be predatory however, so the best thing to do if you’re facing an aggressive one is fight for your life,” he said.

Other advice that could save your life includes not making eye contact, making yourself smaller and speaking in low tones while waving your arms and legs.

Cougars and coyotes, however, are different.

“Coyotes, because we come across them so often, are conditioned to humans and aren’t man-shy, so they may not always run away,” Brendzan said, adding cougars are part of the cat family and like all cats, they are habitually curious.

“You’ve got to make yourself as big as possible, make as much noise as possible,” he said, adding if it comes to a fight, protect your neck, face and other vitals.

“Fight back and make the animal want to leave you alone, using whatever you can to do so,” he said.

In reference to the potentially life-saving advice of avoidance and disobeying the human instinct to run, Brendzan said it is hard to ignore the fight-or-flight instinct and think past all of that.

“For any wild animal, their first instinct is to give chase when something is running,” he said. “It is never a good thing to run from a wild animal, especially not a large carnivore. People have to find the nerve to not do so. It’s a hard thing, even for officers like me, but we all have to do it if we want to survive.”

“There’s no website or page a person can go to that will tell them where all the bears or wolves are, but you have to assume, living in Alberta, there is a chance you will run into one. What we tell people is, anywhere in this province you have the opportunity to run into a wolf, bear, cougar or coyote, and you need to practice being bearsmart. If we have problem animals in local areas, we close them off and post signs for the public,” Brendzan added.

More information about bear safety can be found at www.bearsmart.alberta.com, as well as at the Fish &Wildlife office, located on the second floor of the provincial building at 6203-49 street.

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