Whenever I take a student out on a ride-along I am inevitably asked, “What is the typical work day for a Conservation Officer?” “It’s highly variable!” I respond. This is usually not what high school and college students are expecting. My ride-along with recent college graduate, Marcel, was the perfect case in point.
As Marcel got into my truck to start our day together, he asked several questions, trying to understand the job duties of an Idaho Conservation Officer. The plan was pretty straightforward for this winter’s day: patrol up to the Regional Office, drop off some evidence and equipment, and patrol back down to St. Maries.
An hour into our day however, I received a strange phone call from a concerned sportsman that had us changing plans. The sportsman explained that while riding his ATV he found a dog chained to a tree in the middle of nowhere. He went on to describe trying to free the dog, but as he got close the dog lunged, barked and growled at him. He did not feel safe getting any closer and so the dog remained tethered.
For those interested in being a Conservation Officer, your day will depend on the time of year and the calls that come in. Be prepared to change plans.
With trapping season in full swing in northern Idaho I asked the sportsman if he was sure it was a dog. Was the animal possibly in a trap or snare? He was adamant it was a dog and that it “looked like a pit bull,” chained around its collar. The sportsman gave a general location where he encountered the dog, not always an easy task when deep in the woods.
Marcel and I ran through a few possible scenarios and questions. Why would someone drive several miles on an ATV or snowmobile to chain a dog up? Is it a dog, or is it a wolf in a trap with fur mangled with mange? The list went on and on.
As I loaded the tracked ATV on to the trailer in preparation for our field investigation, I received several calls from the public that had heard about the chained dog in the woods. Lots of people were concerned and were curious about what was going to be done.
For those interested in being a Conservation Officer, we get lots of phone calls from the public. Some patrol areas are non-stop with calls for service, especially in the fall.
We were soon on our way to the trailhead. Due to the snow and ice, we only made it a short distance up a logging road with the truck and trailer before we had to chain up.
For those interested in being a Conservation Officer, we work in all types of weather.
We drove several more miles before locating a gate which fit the description the sportsman caller provided. We loaded the ATV with rope, dog leash, catchpole, and survival gear. I was hoping we would be able to follow ATV tracks in the snow to the location, but quickly realized that would not be the case. As we headed on to the trail, we found ATV and snowmobile tracks crisscrossing across the landscape. We spent almost an hour trying different routes before coming to a location which fit the description of where the sportman found the dog.
As I took off my helmet, Marcel stopped in his tracks and said he heard something, pointing to a thick patch of trees. We scrambled through the snow to find a dark, brindled, large pit bull mix dog, standing with a chain pulled tight to his neck. The dog was obviously scared: his hair was standing up on end, he growled, barked, and lunged against the chain.
Marcel asked if I wanted him to get the catch pole. I advised him to stand a safe distance away and I that was going to get a closer look first. As I approached the dog he began to snarl, show his teeth and slightly cower. The dog seemed quite thin and stressed, so I began talking to him. I am sure I sounded like a fool but I wanted to try and free the dog quickly and safely without getting bit. I used the tone of my voice to reassure the dog.
As I got closer, the growling kept up, but the dog’s body language began to relax a little, despite being at full extension of the chain. I moved slowly and let the dog sniff me and began to pet him. As I slid my hand down his head, I reached the chain latch on his collar and released him from the chain.
The dog quickly sprung on me and began licking me and wiggling all over as I tried to regain my balance. He broke free of my grasp and took off running and jumping all around, apparently celebrating being free from the chain. We watched him jump from one snow covered downed tree to another. He was quite the acrobat: wiggling, twisting and turning with each jump.
While Marcel kept an eye on the dog, I began looking over the chain that had pinned him to the tree. The chain was intertwined with debris, and at the end of the chain was a frayed rope. It appeared the dog had broken free from his chain lead at home and went for an adventure alone. On this adventure, his long chain got tangled up in debris until it was so jumbled that he tangled himself up around some downed trees and couldn’t get free.
The dog continued to run around for a few minutes but then noticed us by the ATV and came over for some pets. It took several minutes to convince the dog to let us lift him on to the machine. Trying to lift an unknown, wiggly, and stressed dog onto an ATV takes patience! The dog, all 67 pounds of him, sat between Marcel and me. We had to drive painstakingly slow to keep him on the machine for the long trek out.
The dog was so happy to see a truck that he wiggled free off of the ATV once in sight of my patrol vehicle. After a few laps around the truck he hopped in willingly. As we drove down the logging road, the dog preferred sitting on Marcel and licked both of us constantly. Thankfully, Marcel loves dogs and didn’t mind being smothered by a large pit bull.
I took the dog to Hopes Haven, an animal shelter in St. Maries. While we discussed how best to find the owner, the dog cozied up to a nice young technician that worked there, happy to find more people to pet him.
Two days later I received a phone message from the dog’s owner. I found out the dog’s name was Gunner and he was doing very well back at home.
Marcel was delighted to hear that Gunner was safe back at home and had a new appreciation for the statement that an Idaho Conservation Officers daily job is highly variable.
For those interested in being a Conservation Officer, a call might result in you rescuing someone’s pet.
