The Wild Dog and The Wild Cave (Tour)

Here at Mammoth Cave the third week of July really flew by! I started my week by reporting to the visitor center to pick up a ticket for the wild cave tour. While I have been able to go on several of the park's cave tours, the wild cave tour is the closest thing to cave exploration that the park offers. The tour is five hours long, unlit, save for your headlamp, and includes stretches of cave that require you to crouch, crawl, canyon walk, and climb! I knew I wanted to go on this tour the moment I went on my first cave tour, and I had a great time!

 I arrived early and got to know the rangers that would be leading the program. Once the visitors arrived, we took a short bus trip to the camp store, where we were equipped with coveralls, cave helmets, headlamps, gloves, and bags. Once we were outfitted, we re-boarded the bus and finished the trip to the cave entrance. The tour began with a long, steep staircase leading down into the cave. From there we began walking through a large passage. We stopped, and the guides announced that we would be starting the first crawling portion of the tour. While I was excited about this, I was a little confused because I did not see any cave passages. Of course, I had seen the crack in side of the cave passage that we were about to go into, but I had certainly not considered the fact that it might lead someplace. One by one, we crawled in, and the real adventure began.

For five hours we crawled, walked, climbed, and navigated our way through obstacles and features with names like sewer pipe, double barreled shotgun, and the compass needle. During the tour, I also checked the condition of the first aid kits cached along the route. Needless to say, any rescue operations in this portion of the cave would be extremely difficult, and exploring this portion of the cave was a great learning experience.

Inside the snowball dining room

The next day I got to run a driving course and I practiced backing up around obstacles. Most of the vehicles used by law enforcement here do not have good rear visibility because of the cage dividers and equipment stored in the trunk, so having these skills is essential. I also helped Ranger Johnston find tools and equipment to install a safety chain on the new boat trailer. 

Sunday proved to be a busy day in its own right. In the morning, I received a lesson on report writing using IMARS and I helped enter several reports. I also assisted the rangers with a car lockout near one of the hiking trails. I used a pump wedge and a long arm auto opening tool to reach inside of the locked vehicle and successfully unlock it! In the afternoon I rode along to an EMS call outside of the visitors center. All of the law enforcement rangers here are certified EMT's, as are several of the interpretative rangers. Watching them in action only confirmed my decision to take an EMT course once I graduate. Later, we responded to a call reporting a sighting of a stray dog within the park. We saw the dog, however, we were unable to capture it, and it ran away. This dog would keep me busy over the next two days as I tried to catch it, and then was sent to pick up a trap to capture it. In the evening I reviewed Fourth Amendment case law related to use of force, including Graham v. Connor and Tennessee v. Garner.

My Monday began with a surprise appearance of the lost dog outside of my seasonal housing. I grabbed a package of hot dogs and tried to lure him to the ranger station. He was hungry, and more than willing to follow me. I was even able to pet him, however, he was wary of being captured, and he ran away once he saw National Park Service uniforms. After my unsuccessful attempt, I reported in to the ranger station. I reviewed use of force with Ranger Clemons and then prepared for a series of use of force scenarios. In each scenario, I approached a suspect and asked for ID. In most cases, the suspect then became confrontational, aggressive, and pulled out a weapon. In each situation I needed to respond with an appropriate level of force. While the scenarios were stressful and I was still learning where all of the tools were on my belt, I learned a lot about use of force!

On Tuesday I took a road trip down to the Kentucky state line to meet a ranger from Fort Donelson. I needed to pick up an animal trap and bring it back to Mammoth Cave so we had a chance at catching the stray dog. While it was a long drive, the countryside was beautiful and it was a nice chance to see more of Kentucky.

Road trip!

The trap, delivered to the ranger station