zcm82:
Morning sir, hope you're well and the day is behaving for you.
The buddy in question works in a placer mine in the middle of nowhere Yukon when it's not frozen solid. It's meant to live with him on the machines he runs as they are in grizzly, black bear and wolf territory.
The Yukon by the way, has perhaps 43,000 people in total, with 24,000 of those living in Whitehorse, so it makes Alaska look like downtown and crowded on a good day and if one has wildlife issues one will either deal with them yourself or become a statistic.
There are Conservation Officers for sure, but by the time the sat phone reaches them and they charter a helicopter - if there's no forest fires using them all that morning - well you get the picture sir...
I'm interested to see how barky it'll be for sure, but I suspect that they're usually wearing ear PPE or have it close by on the machines.
From folks I know and trust who work up there, while it doesn't happen often, every once in awhile they have to deal with a problem animal that just won't listen to reason.
One seldom hears about it in the media however, since all mining and most logging and even exploration companies have an extensive assortment of track hoes, back hoes, etc.
All the best and Happy Thanksgiving.
Dwayne
