Join the bears at Wedsworth Memorial Library for some general bear education as well as assorted specifics on safety. Want to know some quick interesting facts about grizzly bears, just in case you didn’t know? Their Eating Habits Vary by Season. They’re at the Top of the Food Chain. They Eat a Lot. They Have Competition. They’re Fast Runners. Their Hump is Actually a Muscle. They Have Large Claws. They May Nurse for Three Years.
Chad White, Bear Management Specialist and Ali Marschner, Bear Management Technician in Choteau for MT Fish Wildlife and Parks will be here to listen to you and host a bit of in-depth discussion about the preventative measures everyone can take to avoid encouraging bears to be near their homes, ranches, dwellings etc. The FWP Bear Team will explain how they are able to help, but also what you can do on your own to keep all safe.
Reducing human-bear conflict is the goal of this presentation. Chad and Ali hope to provide some great information on how to avoid conflict with a bear. The MFWP wants everyone to know that the more one knows about bears and bear behavior, the more successful one will be in avoiding a bear conflict. “It is important to bear in mind the following when it comes to reducing human-grizzly bear conflict: 1. Bears can be anywhere (assume their presence and learn how to identify their sign). Preventing a conflict is easier than resolving a conflict. 3. Keep food and other attractants away from bears. 4. Be prepared to handle bear encounters and carry bear spray.”
The FWP realizes that to “effectively prevent grizzly bears from coming into conflict with people, biologists must work closely with local communities and residents of bear country. Bears are naturally curious problem solvers, adept at finding new food sources in order to survive. People recreating or living in bear habitat can attract grizzlies with unnatural foods, garbage, or other odors. Garbage, camping foods, dog food, bird seed, grain spills, livestock carcasses, and small animals such as poultry, rabbits, and sheep (and their foods), are all bear attractants. A hungry or curious grizzly may damage property.
One of the most significant and successful solutions to human bear conflict has also been one of the simplest: proper storage of human food and garbage. Bears are opportunists. If new food sources become available, the grizzly is quick to locate them. This includes dead livestock, human refuse, grain spills, and beehives. Bear managers frequently respond to conflict by helping landowners remove or secure whatever food source was bringing the bears.
For example, managers on the East Front regularly clean up spilled grain to prevent bears from coming near farms. Biologists often use aversive conditioning techniques to reduce human-grizzly conflicts. These techniques include rubber bullets, paintball markers, cracker shells, specially trained dogs, scare devices, and propane guns These techniques are used to create an unpleasant experience when the bear is engaged in undesirable behavior. Ideally, these techniques result in the bear creating a strong connection between humans and the aversive techniques.”
Believe it or not, pulling one bear’s tooth can yield information about a whole bear population. New layers of “cementum” grow on a bear’s tooth every year, producing annual growth rings that, under a microscope, look like the rings of a tree trunk. The number of rings reveals the bear’s age. Knowing the age structure of a population is important for monitoring that population.
Bear researchers usually pull the first premolar from each newly captured grizzly that is at least 2 years old. Pulling the first premolar, which is small and insignificant, does not leave a gap in the animal’s jaw or affect the bear’s ability to eat.
As Chad and Ali know and will expound on, “Avoiding a conflict is easier than dealing with a conflict. You can minimize the chance of an encounter, or at least surprise encounters, by understanding bear behavior when you recreate outdoors. Bears like to travel on game trails, human trails, and along water. They often rest in cool, dark, thick forests or brush. Often bears are resting during the mid-day when humans are most active.”
There will always be times when bears and humans encounter each other. “The bear’s response will be determined by the situation and its previous experience with humans. The human’s response will be determined by the situation, previous experience with bears, and what he or she has learned about bears and bear behavior.” Chad and Ali will provide some great advice on how to handle unexpected encounters and prevent some of those encounters.
The FWP knows “there is no single universal recipe being used by wildlife agencies” for bear safety. For example, an encounter with a grizzly bear while hiking in the forest is much different than an encounter with a grizzly bear on private property where people are working and living with grizzlies. Ultimately, as bear and human presence expands in Montana, we need to apply tools that are most effective in these areas.
“More and more of the conflicts are happening outside demographic monitoring areas where there is more private land. Educating people remains the best tool for reducing bear-human conflict. State, federal and tribal agencies, schools, even some towns have programs about bears and how to be safe in bear country. The more people know about bears, the better they will be able to live and recreate in bear country.”
Some up-to-date bear safety methods will be on display to keep your property safer from the bears. Agricultural producers face many challenges when it comes to living and working with grizzlies. There are precautions to prevent conflicts between bears, hunters and anglers. If you have any questions or concerns now is the time for the FWP Bear Team to hear them!
Join us Thursday, March 7 at 6:00 in the Library to become Bear educated. Of Course, there will be a few bites to sample. Not sure if we have to provide the honey though? The Bears will receive their education later this spring! So remember March 7 at 6:00 p.m. for an electrifying experience!!