ISLAND PARK—A man died after hitting a tree while riding a snowmobile on Saturday, Feb. 24. 

According to a news release from the Fremont County Sheriff’s Department, the rider had lost control of his snow mobile while riding on the snowmobile trail between Last Chance and Ponds lodge near the Chick Creek trail. The incident happened around 7:30 in the evening. 

The rider was pronounced dead at the scene. The name of the rider and additional details will be released following notification of family by authorities.

The Fremont County Sheriff’s Department and Fremont County EMS responded to the incident.

ST. ANTHONY — Merlin Skuse isn’t your ordinary senior citizen. 

The 91-year-old Michigan native walks the Henry’s Fork Greenway almost every day as a way to stay fit and take his dog Skipper out for exercise. He can be often seen with his walker and Skipper enjoying the scenery along the Greenway. 

“I really enjoy getting out to walk,” he said. “My dog is responsible for it.”

When snow fell last week, most people would stay indoors and find another way to exercise. 

However, the snow didn’t stop Skuse. 

“I had a welder take a pair of cross-country skis put on where the wheels used to be,” Skuse said, referring to his walker. Already he says he loves being able to be out in the snow instead of watching it fall from inside his house.

“I’ve been walking the greenway for 10 years, though this is the first year I’ve been able to walk in the wintertime,” he said.

Skuse said the problem of walking in the winter weather hit him soon after his wife died last fall.

“My wife passed away in October, and I realized I’d have to walk him (Skipper) when winter comes,” he said. “I can’t push the wheeled walker in the snow.”

Skuse realized that if he could get ahold of skis, maybe he could find someone who could turn his idea into a reality.

“I got some cross-country skis from Deseret Industries, and my friend Roy Parker welded them onto the wheels,” he said. “They work perfectly.”

In addition to having a ski-walker, Skuse uses a pair of ice grips on his shoes to maintain his balance on the slippery path. 

“There’s a little hill on the Greenway, and I wouldn’t try to walk it without my ice grips, downhill or uphill,” he said.

Being able to walk the Greenway path is very important to Skuse. He said walking with his dog on the path next to Henry’s Fork is a way for him to reconnect with the world around him.

“I just love to get out there and smell the fresh air,” he said. “On the Greenway you can see eagles and moose and other wildlife.”

Skuse praised the city of St. Anthony for all the work they’ve put into the Greenway over the years.

“The west side of the Greenway, it looks really nice with the work they’ve done on it,” he said. “They’ve got some adequate parking over there. They’ve got an indicator out there that tells you how maintained the trail is.”

Though Skuse doesn’t walk the entire length of the Greenway these days, he encourages those who haven’t explored it to check it out for themselves. 

ISLAND PARK — After resuming recovery efforts on Thursday morning, search and rescue crews discovered the body of snowmobiler Adam Wayne Andersen, a 36-year-old man from Idaho Falls.

Anderson and several other snowmobilers were riding in the backcountry in the Centennial Mountains on Wednesday afternoon when an avalanche off of Mt. Jefferson swept Anderson under the snow.

Members of his group attempted to locate him but had no success.

After rescue operations were underway, Anderson’s snowmobile was discovered in the area he went missing. By that point, however, conditions were getting to be too dangerous for operations to make any further progress.

Fremont County Sheriff Len Humphries cited poor weather conditions and the risk of another avalanche as to why efforts to recover the man’s body were put on hold.

“The Life Flight pilot who flew the area late yesterday reported seeing a number of slides,” Humphries said.

Fremont County Search and Rescue and Sheriff’s Deputies started early Thursday morning to evaluate snow conditions and continue the search.

A rescue dog from Teton County Search and Rescue assisted efforts in the recovery operations, as did Air Ambulance services and Island Park Ambulance. Volunteer searchers were being accepted as well.

BURTON — A large cat was spotted on New Year’s Day near the Burton Cemetery about 4 miles southwest of Rexburg.

Kathleen Price, a 30-year Burton resident and employee for East Idaho Health and Welfare, said she could see the wild animal from her home.

“It was a mountain lion,” she said. “It was catching voles and mice and whatever it could pounce on.”

Price said the large cat was just making its way through the field next to her property searching for easy prey to eat. Around 4 p.m. the cat left the area.

Later Price saw the animal’s large paw prints in the snow, giving a clue as to what type of cat it could be.

Price, who has a background in geology and has had experience in animal tracking, said the signs pointed to it being a mountain lion, even though some doubted her claim.

“I’ve tracked before, and these tracks showed it was a mountain lion,” she said. “Usually there’s several normal cats that just live out there, but there were none. Our dog wouldn’t come out of the garage, they just stayed in the background and didn’t want to be seen.”

Price and her husband, Jay, reported the sighting to the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, who then alerted the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. Both organizations cautioned safety when encountering wildlife.

Fish and Game Regional Wildlife Manager Curtis Hendricks said he knew about the incident and encourages locals to be on the lookout.

“The information we were able to see did not necessarily point to the animal being a mountain lion,” he said. “We’re not saying it wasn’t one, either. That’s fine, and we still want people to call in and report something that seems out of place, specifically these species that have a human safety hazard to it. We really want to hear about that.”

Early the next morning Brigham Young University–Idaho employee and LaBelle resident Regina Hull was jogging on her route in the LaBelle area when she saw a dark shape silhouetted against the roadway.

“I vaguely saw a large, dark lump in the middle of the road in the shadow of the trees,” Hull said. “I quickly turned on my bright flashlight to see what looked like a huge cat laying down. I think it was mountain lion.”

As Hull slowly began to back away, the large cat got up and casually walked in a different direction. As soon as it was out of sight, Hull sprinted home. She posted her experience on Facebook to warn her neighbors.

It wasn’t long before Price saw what might have been the same big cat in the field by her home again.

“The next day it was back,” Price said. “It did the same thing, just wandering around in the field.”

Price said mountain lions, as well as bobcats and other large wild cats, aren’t savage creatures, but they shouldn’t be messed around with.

“They’re not super aggressive,” Price said. “They won’t attack a human for no reason, but I wouldn’t want to mess around or put myself in a situation where one might be in danger.”

Price said she wasn’t afraid of having wild animals in her yard. After living in Burton for so many years, it’s become part of the scenery.

“It was cool to see it. I hope no one gets too crazy and thinks they need to kill it,” she said. “I’m happy to live here where we can enjoy these things every once in a while.”

Hendricks said if there are any more sightings of mountain lions in the area, he wants to know about it, even if the caller isn’t sure about what they saw.

“The big thing is we want to know about it, and the quicker they let us know the sooner we can get out and handle the situation,” he said. “If there is evidence, such as tracks or scat, you can put a small tarp or something over it to preserve it from the elements.”

Hendricks said the last thing anyone wants is to get in a physical altercation with a wild animal.

“We don’t want to perpetuate a conflict, so if you see the animal, don’t run from it,” he said. “We want to make folks appear big but slowly back away from the animal and then immediately report their encounter.”

Hendricks said to act in charge and not look afraid when backing away from mountain lions.

“Don’t act submissive. Keep facing the animal. If you are struggling against an attack from a mountain lion, we encourage you to fight back until you can get away,” he said.

If you see what looks like a mountain lion or other big game animal, make sure to get yourself to a safe location and contact local wildlife authorities or the sheriff’s office.

MENAN—Bernadine Nel expected Monday’s trip to the Menan Buttes to be another normal hiking adventure.

What happened instead brought back memories of violence and terror for the Rexburg woman.

Nel was walking in the desert flatlands out near the North Menan Butte on the morning of Monday, Oct. 2.

“I climb (the butte) about once a month,” she said, “but when I feel like flat land hiking, I go across the road to another lot and hike there.”

Nel said she was hiking while on her phone with her son, Jacob, when the sound of bullets “whistling” through the air near her caught her attention.

“About 4 or 5 shots went zinging by,” she said. “My first thought was that hunters had mistaken me for a deer. I honestly thought they were going to hit me because the sounds were so close. It didn’t help that I’d heard about Las Vegas a couple of hours before.”

Nel immediately dropped to the ground.

“My instinct was to run,” she said. “But when another couple of shots whizzed by I laid down very quickly. My son was still on the phone and I was screaming, ‘Stop shooting! I’m here! There is somebody here!’ I kept yelling at them to stop.”

Nel, who is originally from Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), grew up in a part of the world plagued with violence. She and her family fled the country to South Africa when she was young. She said those experiences were relived while being shot at Monday morning.

“In South Africa and Rhodesia, being shot was a reality and all that ran through my head,” Nel said. “I went through a huge range of emotions, and wondered if a falling bullet would get me. I began to cry when Jacob told me he was on his way.”

Nel’s son ended up driving out to where his mother had talked to him on the phone. By that time, the shooting had stopped. The ordeal had lasted roughly 20 minutes.

“I was shaking,” she said, adding that she feels nervous about hiking in the flatlands again.

Though the experience shook her, she said she understands that the people shooting towards her meant no harm.

“I’m totally not against weapons,” she said. “If anything I’m an advocate, because in my past our weapons kept us safe. But I do think that sometimes people around here believe they have gun ‘right of way.’”

Scott Davis, a Rexburg resident who is also a National Rifle Association certified range safety officer, said that Nel’s experience shows that gun owners who shoot by the buttes need to remember that they might not be the only ones enjoying the outdoors.

“It sounds like they were not aware of their target,” he said. “They might have not been shooting into a berm or they were shooting over a berm. When you go shooting, you have to realize you’re sharing the land you’re shooting on. It’s a fun sport, but it comes with a ton of responsibility.”

Davis reminded those who go shooting to use proper safety precautions to ensure no one gets hurt.

“There are four universal safety rules when it comes to firearm handling,” he said. “Keep your gun off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot, don’t point your gun at anything you don’t want to destroy, be sure of your target and what’s beyond it and treat every gun as though it’s loaded.

“You have to realize you’re using a machine. You need to know how the machine works, as well as its capabilities and limitations, to safely operate it.”

Nel said for the time being, she won’t go hiking in that area again.

“Every time I think about it I feel a bit afraid, but I’ll get back out there,” she said. “Maybe take a friend.”

MENAN—Bernadine Nel expected Monday’s trip to the Menan Buttes to be another normal hiking adventure.

What happened instead brought back memories of violence and terror for the Rexburg woman.

Nel was walking in the desert flatlands out near the North Menan Butte on the morning of Monday, Oct. 2.

“I climb (the butte) about once a month,” she said, “but when I feel like flat land hiking, I go across the road to another lot and hike there.”

Nel said she was hiking while on her phone with her son, Jacob, when the sound of bullets “whistling” through the air near her caught her attention.

“About 4 or 5 shots went zinging by,” she said. “My first thought was that hunters had mistaken me for a deer. I honestly thought they were going to hit me because the sounds were so close. It didn’t help that I’d heard about Las Vegas a couple of hours before.”

Nel immediately dropped to the ground.

“My instinct was to run,” she said. “But when another couple of shots whizzed by I laid down very quickly. My son was still on the phone and I was screaming, ‘Stop shooting! I’m here! There is somebody here!’ I kept yelling at them to stop.”

Nel, who is originally from Rhodesia (Zimbabwe), grew up in a part of the world plagued with violence. She and her family fled the country to South Africa when she was young. She said those experiences were relived while being shot at Monday morning.

“In South Africa and Rhodesia, being shot was a reality and all that ran through my head,” Nel said. “I went through a huge range of emotions, and wondered if a falling bullet would get me. I began to cry when Jacob told me he was on his way.”

Nel’s son ended up driving out to where his mother had talked to him on the phone. By that time, the shooting had stopped. The ordeal had lasted roughly 20 minutes.

“I was shaking,” she said, adding that she feels nervous about hiking in the flatlands again.

Though the experience shook her, she said she understands that the people shooting towards her meant no harm.

“I’m totally not against weapons,” she said. “If anything I’m an advocate, because in my past our weapons kept us safe. But I do think that sometimes people around here believe they have gun ‘right of way.’”

Scott Davis, a Rexburg resident who is also a National Rifle Association certified range safety officer, said that Nel’s experience shows that gun owners who shoot by the buttes need to remember that they might not be the only ones enjoying the outdoors.

“It sounds like they were not aware of their target,” he said. “They might have not been shooting into a berm or they were shooting over a berm. When you go shooting, you have to realize you’re sharing the land you’re shooting on. It’s a fun sport, but it comes with a ton of responsibility.”

Davis reminded those who go shooting to use proper safety precautions to ensure no one gets hurt.

“There are four universal safety rules when it comes to firearm handling,” he said. “Keep your gun off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot, don’t point your gun at anything you don’t want to destroy, be sure of your target and what’s beyond it and treat every gun as though it’s loaded.

“You have to realize you’re using a machine. You need to know how the machine works, as well as its capabilities and limitations, to safely operate it.”

Nel said for the time being, she won’t go hiking in that area again.

“Every time I think about it I feel a bit afraid, but I’ll get back out there,” she said. “Maybe take a friend.”