Given the choice of sparring with the Board of Directors or a grizzly bear, I chose the latter. I had heard about an opportunity to work with the Peregrine Fund reintroducing peregrine falcons into the wild. Falcon populations had been decimated by DDT. I applied and was offered the opportunity to be a release site attendant in the wilderness on the Wyoming-Montana border northeast of Yellowstone National Park.
Three days and twelve hundred miles later I had traveled from sea level to 8700 feet and was shouldering a heavy pack preparing to hike in with my fellow site attendant to the location where we would live for the next seven weeks caring for five falcons. A Peregrine Fund biologist hiked in with us to show the way (there were no trails) and to help us set up our ''bear camp". We were informed that this was "active habitat", which meant there was a grizzly wandering around our neighborhood. While driving in I had seen billboards stating in large letters: "THIS IS GRIZZLY COUNTRY!" I became the BEAR YELLER. Before entering thick stands of forest or descending into hollows, I would announce my arrival and explain to the bears that I was here on a mission that was to their advantage: restoring balance to the ecosystem. For the rest of the story contact The Adventurers Club of Chicago at www.advclub.org to see The June 2009 issue of TRAILPRINTS.
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