Eric Troyer's Dad on a Life of Poking the Bears

Nice ADN story on Will Troyer's hilarious learning curve on how to trap and anesthetize a Kodiak bear.

"We stuffed the holes of the trap with cloth to make it as airtight as possible; then we began spraying ether into openings with ordinary, hand-pump fly sprayers,'' Troyer writes. "The trap, being far from airtight, allowed ether fumes to escape.

"Unavoidably, we inhaled some of the fumes; if we weren't careful, we would be unconscious before the bear was. After we pumped ether steadily for 30 minutes, the brownie lay down and seemed subdued.''

Troyer poked it with a stick. It didn't move. So the men opened the gate.