Chapter 4: Alien Abductions

4.1a: Redwood forest (Getty Images).

4.1b: Visiting my old haunts in 2013. Most of the forest where I worked in the 1960’s had been logged, including areas that were incorporated into the national park. But what remained was still a delight to explore.

4.2a: Barrel trap.

4.2b: Culvert trap (Ann Bryant photo).

4.3: When a bear bit into the mesh covering the back of the barrel trap, gaps between the strands couldn’t be much larger than 1”, as shown here, to prevent the bear from breaking a canine tooth (Courtesy BearSmart.com).

4.4a: We waited until each bear was unconscious before pulling it out of the trap. Later, when we were done, we returned it to the trap where it could recover safely.

4.4b: Before we released it back into the wilds (Courtesy BearSmart.com).

4.5a: Leg-hold traps. Traps built for grizzly bears are powerful enough to snap a leg bone (illustration).

4.5b: Traps built for grizzly bears are powerful enough to snap a leg bone (illustration).

4.5c: The jaws of some traps were rimmed with sharp teeth that could slice through muscles and tendons, crippling a bear, and preventing it from pulling free (Dreamstime image).

4.6: Cable-inflicted injury to a bear’s wrist. Such injuries can usually be prevented if one installs a powerful shock-absorbing spring on the cable (courtesy, Animal Protection League of New Jersey).

4.7a: Bear hands (top row) and feet (bottom row). The finger-claws of a black or polar bear are about as long as its finger pads; a grizzly’s finger claws are up to 3 times as long as its finger pads. In all three species, toe claws tend to be shorter than toe pads (Stringham 2010).

4.7b: Grizzly hand vs. human hand (iStock images. Heidloss Tilo & Felix Geringswald photos).

4.7c: Footprints are easiest to follow when made in firm sand.

4.8a: While I watched from over 100 yards away, a grizzly bear scent- marked this birch tree, leaving bite marks and hair on the trunk. During spring when bears are shedding, hair comes off in gobs.

4.8b: Rest of the year few hairs are left each time, although they accumulate over time as multiple bears rub on the same spots.

4.8c: Grizzly sniffing mark tree.

4.9: Snare lying on the ground between two sticks, as it is being covered with leaves as camouflage. The free end will be attached by another cable to a tree (illustration).

4.10: Tattoo pliers: The needles can be seen on the lower part of the devise (Credit: www.wildlifecontrolsupplies.com; www.stonemfg.net/brochures.html Stone manufacturing Co.).

4.11: Sue Mansfield holds radio collar in preparation for mounting it on a bear that has not been captured or tranquilized.

4.12: Assisted by Sue Mansfield, Lynn Rogers slips a radio collar around the neck of this black bear.

4.13: Lynn Rogers attaches the radio collar.

4.14: Lightening storm I endured on Mount Thompson Seton (artistic recreation).