Numerous grizzly bear observations reported this year

In what’s become an annual spring migration from the Rocky Mountain Front to the prairie, grizzly bears are showing up around northcentral Montana communities such as Valier and Conrad, but much earlier than usual, according to officials with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks.

“It’s the big buzz around here,” Mike Krings, Conrad area game warden for FWP, said of bear sightings. “People are concerned about it. We’re pretty darn concerned about it.”

One bear showed up Tuesday evening on the outskirts of Conrad 65 miles northwest of Great Falls on Interstate 15.

Krings responded at 7:13 p.m. He saw a younger bear around 3 years old.

“It was just out there kind of grazing near a bunch of farm equipment and about 20 yards from the house,” Krings said. “There was a bunch of people watching it.”

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Dozens of bears have been reported in open areas far from the mountains, with many moving from shelter belt to shelter belt adjacent to farms and ranches, said Mike Madel, an FWP grizzly bear management specialist.

Bears are dispersing from the Rocky Mountain Front east across the green open grasslands where they’re finding natural bear foods such as plants to eat, he said.

“We’ve been busy running from observation to observation,” Madel said.

So far, reports of conflicts with people have been few, he said.

Bear managers have a trap set for a grizzly bear on one ranch west of U.S. Highway 89 and north of Bynum. The 2-year-old bear pushed open the door of a chicken coop Monday and killed 20 chickens.

Krings’ routine when grizzly bears come into yards or near Conrad is to haze them. He doesn’t want bears to get comfortable hanging around, he said.

When the bear was reported on the outskirts of the community Tuesday evening, he fired cracker shells from a shotgun.

Cracker shells travel about 100 yards and explode like a large fire cracker.

That last time Krings saw the bear, it was on a hill a couple of miles from town and no other observations of grizzly bears have been reported since.

On Monday, Krings responded to another report of a bear north of Conrad on the Dry Fork of the Marias River. The bear was working its way toward a small farmstead.

The bears are attracted to small farmsteads scattered outside of town where there are rows of trees or shelter belts, which provide good cover for the bears, he said.

“When I drove up to the house it spotted me and ran,” Krings said.

He’s not sure if the grizzly bears observations around Conrad involve one or two bears.

“We’ve got a much earlier migration this year,” Krings said. “Easily a month ahead of schedule.”

The Front is part of a larger population of about 1,000 bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem that includes Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.

Many of the Front bears dispersing onto the prairie are younger, Madel said.

“The population is expanding,” he said. “We’ll probably see more bears out there.”

Bears emerged early from mountain dens this year due to the mild winter, and prairie areas have greened up exceptionally early, Madel noted.

Front grizzlies emerge early from winter slumber

FWP also has received reports of observations of grizzly bears on the shores of Lake Frances near Valier and bears traveling through Valier, Madel said.

Valier is 45 miles northwest of Conrad. FWP confirmed that a lone bear is hanging out above the boat ramp on Lake Frances.

“It’s feeding naturally there,” Madel said.

Four grizzlies were observed when bear managers flew over the Dry Fork of the Marias River to Conrad Wednesday.

People are concerned with bears being in shelter belts behind their houses and walking past livestock, Madel said.

“They’re not camping in places over a long period,” Madel said. “We’re seeing just a lot of movement.”

FWP also has received a number of observations of bears in open country north of Bynum.

Follow Karl Puckett on Twitter @GFTrib_KPuckett.

Keep food secured

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks says dog and cat food is a bear attractant and shouldn’t be left out on porches. Garbage shouldn’t left out either, they say. Leaking grain bins also can attract bears. For information about bear activity in the Conrad area, call Mike Krings at 406-788-0329 or the Pondera County sheriff at 406-271-4060.