WEDNESDAY
December 28, 2011
A division of
Vol. 26 No. 103
Comox Valley Ground Search and Rescue volunteers rescued a back-country skier trapped on a mountain ledge on Forbidden Plateau on the weekend. Comox Valley RCMP alerted CVGSAR to the situation around 12:30 p.m. Saturday when Lawrence Floucault, a Courtenay
resident in his early-20s, was stranded in waist-deep snow after traversing down a slope. With assistance from Arrowsmith SAR and Campbell River’s Helicopter External Extraction Team, volunteers initiated a ‘topdown rope rescue.’ Rescuers could maintain cell phone contact with Floucault, who was equipped with a GPS
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Rescuers get man home for Christmas Record Staff
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unit. Unable to access the area by helicopter due to weather conditions, two ground teams of four were air inserted within one kilometre of Floucault. A third team of six reached the area by snowmobile. Travel conditions were difficult due to steep terrain, heavy winds, snowfall and darkness. By 9 p.m.
ON THE MOVE
CVGSAR requested 442 Squadron to locate the wet and shivering Floucault, who was unable to light his stove. The squadron, however, could not access the young man due to considerable cloud cover. Ground teams reached Floucault shortly before 10 p.m. After assessing his condition, they
... see RESCUE ■ 5
Young cougar relocated to new home
It was a fast and furious year in sports for Comox Valley athletes. ■ 27
Renée Andor
UP IN SMOKE
Record Staff
An 80-pound cougar lurking around the Goose Spit area over the last couple of weeks was relocated north of Campbell River on Dec. 20. “He’s a young male cougar, up and coming, in prime health, beautiful condition,” said Black Creek conservation officer Mike Newton. “That tells us that he’s an efficient hunter; he can look after himself and he just needs to do that in an area away from people.” The cougar was first spotted in the Midden Road area on Dec. 12, when it killed a deer on a resident’s property. Conservation officers used cougar tracking hounds to try to catch the cougar at that time, but “he gave the dogs the slip.” Three more sightings were reported over the next couple of weeks in the Goose Spit area, and Newton said it’s “highly likely” all sightings were the same cat because they “tend to be territorial when they find a good food source; there’s tons of deer in that location.” But, along with all the deer are people, which is what worried Newton. “When cougars start to be sighted in a residential area during the daytime hours we get a little bit worried that the cougar is in a spot where it’s going to inevitably get into trouble,” he explained. However, Newton said officers were waiting for the right condi-
In just a handful of hours, 133 years of Comox Valley history was reduced to rubble in late February when Comox’s Lorne Hotel burned to the ground. What was reportedly the community’s first hotel and the oldest licensed drinking establishment in the province was destroyed by an early-morning fire.
...Complete story on page ■ 5
FINDER THIS BIG BOY is readied for relocation to a remote area north of Campbell River after he was caught and tranquilized on Dec. 20. The young male had staked his claim to the Goose Spit area over the last couple of weeks, feeding on a large deer population but no Fidos or Fluffies. tions for a better chance of catching the animal. “We were waiting for the right combination of a good location– where we could set the dogs lose on this cat–and have a decent chance of catching it within daylight hours, and decent tracking conditions, and all the other
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things that we need to up our chances of success, because it’s not as easy as it might seem,” he explained. On Dec. 20 conservation officers received a call from Morland Road. The cougar had been spotted on a property bordering a wooded area with swamp land.
The cougar was successfully “treed,” then tranquilized and transported to a “remote wilderness location” north of Campbell River. Not all cougars are relocated when caught, and Newton said this one’s age and health played
... see COUGAR ■ 5
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■ Arts
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