January 12, 2013 will be a day forever in my son, Jordan's memory - a day that he says determined his future employment.

Jordan is 15 years of age and in grade 10 in Buchans, Newfoundland. Ever since Jordan was able to walk he has had an extraordinary love for the wilderness. Many people have told me that kids like Jordan are a dying breed. Most are taken up with video games, televisions or computers. But not Jordan! Fishing, hunting, camping etc. are his favourite pastimes. However, besides a few fish, hurting animals is not on his to do list.

Jordan has, for a long time, talked about becoming a conservation officer. Being outdoors, helping protect the wildlife and the environment is the ideal job, he says. And on that day in January I know that his destiny was chosen.

Jordan and a couple of his friends set off on their Ski-doos that afternoon for a ride around the outskirts of Buchans. Jordan recalls what happened:

“We headed down towards the spring, where Dad and I go fishing in the summer. We were just about to go down the path when we saw it. A caribou was down on the ground not moving very much. We all stopped and noticed that it was in a lot of trouble. It had a fox’s snare around its snout! I couldn’t just leave it there. It seemed to be having a lot of trouble breathing and I knew it would surely die. We walked up to it and it started to thrash around. I told one of my friends to run back and get my machete from the Ski-doo. He ran back, retrieved the knife, and brought it to me. I walked closer to the caribou, trying to reassure it that I wasn’t going to hurt it, even though deep down I wasn’t sure I was even going to be able to help. I got close enough and while my friend held the tree that the snare was on, I chopped it down. The caribou remained calm while I tried to figure out what to do next. I decided I needed to get the snare off the tree completely. Again, with the help of my friend, I chopped at the snare and released it from the tree. I knew what I had to do next was risky but I had to try. I smoothed the caribou down and told it everything was going to be OK and that I would try and set it free. I then took my finger and slowly slipped it in under the snare on his snout, and with my other hand I pushed on the end of the snare. It came loose enough for me to pull it off and release the caribou. It jumped up, and ran into the woods. My mom asked me why I never took any pictures? I told her I was shaking so much they probably would have been blurry!”

Jordan says his sense of accomplishment was overwhelming and if he had to do it again he would. He says he was very scared but he could only imagine how scared the caribou was. We donÂ’t have any pictures of the caribou but we do have a picture of Jordan holding the snare - something he says heÂ’ll always keep as a reminder of what he did that day and what he can do after high school.
  Submitted By: natalie lane