Grizzly skull discovered in sandhills

Written by publisher

Thursday, 31 December 2009 17:37

By Paul Grigaitis
Fox Valley area resident, Brad Jackle, made a rare and exciting find in the sandhills earlier this year.
While searching for shed deer antlers on a neighbour’s farm property east of Fox Valley, he found a plains grizzly bear skull.

At first, the farmer and mine worker didn’t pay much attention to the skull that poked out from the crest of an active sand dune because he was out looking for deer antlers. However, when he discovered the lower jaw nearby, he inspected the teeth and realized it was a bear skull.
“I’ve found dozens of buffalo skulls over the years, but a plains grizzly, it’s been a long time since they’ve been wandering around here,” Jackle said. “Minimum 100 years I would think. If it was in the sand for 100 years or 1,000 years, it’s hard to say.”
Jackle has since received a provincial permit allowing him to possess the bear skull. Plans are to put it in a display case at the RM office in Fox Valley, he said.
Judging by the teeth, Jackle said in his estimation it is a very old skull, but he said he’d eventually like to get an expert to verify its age.
He returned to the site of his original find later in the summer looking for more remains. He could tell the dune had eroded about four inches since April judging by a tree root that jutted out from the ground, but couldn’t find any more bones.
The skull’s discovery alone is surprising, he said.
“I was just in awe that this day and age you would be able to find one.”
Jackle’s brother, Howard, brought the skull into Maple Creek for the annual antler and horn measuring day in December sponsored by Maple Creek Fish and Game League to provide people an opportunity have a look at it.
Saskatchewan Environment conservation officer Jim Stock said plains grizzly bears haven’t likely roamed the sandhills area for about 100 years.
He said any plains grizzly skulls found in the region would likely date back to the late 1800s or early 1900s.

Brad Jackle holds the plains grizzly bear skull he found in the sandhills in the spring.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES

<< February 2012 >>
Su	Mo	Tu	We	Th	Fr	Sa
			1	2	3	4
5	6	7	8	9	10	11
12	13	14	15	16	17	18
19	20	21	22	23	24	25
26	27	28	29

More Story Headlines

Conversations that cause nightmares

Sometime last week during our afternoon coffee break the general topic of the 15 minute rest period [ ... ]

Distracted driving continues to be a problem

Distracted driving continues to be a major problem for Saskatchewan law enforcement.

No clear connection found between radon levels and cancer

Living in a province with one of the highest amounts of uranium in the world may have an adverse eff [ ... ]

Hospital schematic design approved

A new milestone has been made in the progress towards a new integrated health care facility for the [ ... ]