It's the last thing you might expect to find on your rural property but RCMP say it's a real possibility.

Police are once again reminding Albertans about the danger of deteriorated explosives that could still linger in a farm field or ranch.

"We do about 10 calls, plus or minus, per year dealing with detonators and explosives," says Cpl. Paul Zanon with the RCMP's Explosive Unit, "We recovered in the past year about 115 detonators and we did over 100 sticks of dynamite that we recovered as well. It's out there and it's important that people know what to do when they find it."

The thought of being close to any of these explosive devices is scary, but how did they get there in the first place.

"Back in the day, 70's 80's, if you're a farmer, rancher and you needed to clear some land, you wanted to use explosives to do it," says Zanon, "You could just go to the store and buy explosives but they didn't sell it by the stick, you bought a box."

Buying a whole box of dynamite, meant there was usually many left over, and of course you needed the detonator to go along with the explosives.

Zanon says they continue to receive calls about these devices and detonators, with some coming close to our own borders.

"We've been out to Hanna, we've been out to Airdrie itself a few times. They're out there, they're everywhere. No particular place is immune. If there's a need for it and people had it, it's out there."

If you happen to find an explosive device or detonator on your property, you should not touch it and instead take a photo and contact your local RCMP detachment.

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