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Red Deer Advocate THURSDAY, FEB. 12, 2015
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Mother Nature’s sniper COUGAR POPULATION SPIKES IN WEST COUNTRY BY PAUL COWLEY ADVOCATE STAFF Alberta Fish and Wildlife is warning West Country property owners who feed deer that they may be attracting cougars, which are out in unusually high numbers. Over the last six months, three to five cougar sighting calls a week are coming into the Sundre office, said Fish and Wildlife officer Adam Mirus on Wednesday. “I think we’re up 70 per cent or so from what we normally get.” Two family dogs on rural properties outside of Sundre have been killed by cougars and there have been numerous sightings by residents or that have been picked up by trail cameras. “It’s common to have cats come through towns, whether its Didsbury, Sundre or wherever — that just happens,” said Mirus. “So it’s not out of the ordinary. What is out of the ordinary is the number of times it’s happening now.” Fish and Wildlife officers have had to shoot about a dozen problem cougars in the West Country over the past year. The spike in cougar populations is directly tied to an increase in the deer population. Cougars mate when conditions are good for them, with ample food supplies and shelter. “We’ve had high deer numbers in the last few years. And when the deer numbers are high, you’re going to get stronger numbers of predators.” Last winter’s deep snow also led deer to easier-totravel and safer-from-predator routes such as roads and other trails closer to populated areas. And the cougars followed the food source. If a cougar sighting is fresh, officers can try to chase the cougar back into the bush using hounds, or kill them if they pose a risk. For older sightings, officers will advise residents on the best way to reduce their risks and avoid attracting them. Photo contributed by ADAM MIRUS
Alberta Fish and Wildlife is warning West Country property owners who feed deer that they may be attracting cougars, which are out in unusually high numbers.
Please see COUGAR on Page A2
Girl on long road of treatment for brain tumour Trish Robichaud knew something was wrong with her three-year-old daughter Brielle even though a series of tests and visits to doctors and hospital in Red Deer didn’t find any problems. So on Jan. 22, when the registered nurse saw that her daughter had a stiff neck and back, and fearing meningitis, Trish decided to take Bri, as she is known, straight to the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary. They arrived at 8 a.m. Four hours later, doctors began a six-hour emergency brain surgery on the little girl. It would be the first of four surgeries she’s had since arriving at the MARY-ANN hospital. BARR Speaking to me Wednesday, on “Day 21” as she called it, and an hour before Bri was to begin 18 months of chemotherapy, Trish said a CT scan and MRI in Calgary led to the discovery of a very large tumour growing in the middle of Bri’s brain that probably had been growing there for a long time. It’s in a bad spot of her brain, where her optic chiasm and hypothalmus are, and near her pituitary gland, said Trish. “That’s all bad but what was even worse than that was the tumour was blocking the pathway of her cerebral spinal fluid ... filling her head with fluid ... which was threatening her life.”
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Contributed photo
Trish and Nick Robichaud’s three-year-old daughter Brielle Robichaud in the Alberta Children’s Hospital in Calgary. The Red Deer child underwent emergency surgery at the hospital in January after a tumor was discovered in her brain.
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Neurosurgeons couldn’t remove the tumour safely. It is considered benign but now has to be treated with chemotherapy to keep it from growing. Bri is too young to have radiation. “The location is so scary they have no choice but to treat it,” said Trish, who hasn’t left the hospital since the day they arrived there. Trish, 35, and husband Nick Robichaud, 36, assistant superintendant at Alberta Springs golf course, have one bed and a lawn chair to sleep in as they stay by her side. “Today we’re really happy because she’s happy,” said Trish. They are very glad the surgeries are over. Besides the initial surgery, Bri has also had a drain and shunt implanted, as well as a port that will enable the chemotherapy. “Obviously we have tears. Her and I. We both shed tears every single day and there are things that are very painful but she’s such a good kid. She’s so easygoing and so likable. ... Everybody loves her. She’s the nicest little girl. She puts up with so much,” a tired-sounding Trish said. The parents of both Trish and Nick also live in Red Deer and are helping to look after the Robichauds’ other children — sons Xavier, seven, and Taj, five. Trish had been working part time in Labour and Delivery at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre and was about to go to casual work so she could spend more time with her family. That meant she lost some benefits but she doesn’t want to sound like she is complaining at all.