Learning to keep bears wild

"You rangers don't make bears stay away?" was one quote Swan Valley Bear Ranger Kathy Koors wrote down after a day driving backroads, checking campsites and talking to visitors and locals alike who did not have their garbage, or food secured. Another favorite, "I just assumed, because it's a campground, that it's fenced to keep wild animals away."

Koors, like many others who love the wildlife in the Swan, Clearwater and Blackfoot Valleys, is concerned about the safety of wildlife especially bears. With the huge influx of new residents and more visitors, learning how to live with wildlife, understanding how everything is connected and the impacts humans have is a steep learning curve.

"It is such a cool place to live and such a cool thing to see that bear," Koors said. "It is not necessarily something to fear unless you are inviting them to you. If you are inviting them to you, the bear pays that price."

According to community surveys, Koors said more than 95% of Swan Valley residents value wildlife.

"Let's keep us safe and the wildlife safe," Koors said. "There are reasonable ways that aren't that difficult to live responsibly with bears."

With the arrival of fall, bear go into hyperphagia. Hyperphagia is an increase in feeding activity driven by a biological need to fatten up in preparation for winter denning. Once they enter the den bears go without food and water for months. If they do not get enough to eat in the fall, mothers don't produce cubs and some bears die in the den.

During this time of hyperphagia, conflicts increase because bears are in constant search for food. Once they get a food reward from a garbage can, unsecured cooler, unlocked grain shed, not only will they return again but they will also check out similar situations.

"Hyperphagia is a season. This is a time of year where they are bold," Koors said. "If you haven't had a problem, you are either doing everything right or you are lucky."

To date, most of the reported conflicts in northwest Montana have involved bears getting into unsecured garbage and livestock feed, hanging around homes feeding on green grass and clover, and killing small livestock including chickens and pigs. Koors added feeding wildlife including deer and elk is not only illegal, it also brings in bears and other predators like mountain lions.

Bears that gain rewards from human food sources can become food conditioned. They lose their natural foraging ability and pose an increased risk to human safety. Food rewards can also lead wildlife to become habituated to people, another increased risk to human safety. Both food conditioning and habituation often lead to euthanizing an animal for safety reasons.

As of Sept. 9, there were 39 current known and probable grizzly bear mortalities in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (spanning FWP regions 1, 2 and 4, and the Blackfeet and Flathead Reservation). This included 15 killed by FWP for safety reasons due to food conditioning and habituation and 10 automobile accidents and one defense of life.

Koors' property fronts the Swan River. She had no idea how many bears passed by her property until she put up a game camera. This spring she had six visits, an occasional visit during the summer and she has already had four visits with two different bears this fall. They are coming down to the river but they are not coming around her home or outbuildings.

Koors encourages landowners to walk around their property and be aware of animal signs such as scat and tracks.

Also learn normal animal behavior. Wild bears will avoid buildings because buildings mean people and they should be scared of people. Also if it runs when noise is made, it is "a good wild bear." If it does not leave or returns in an hour, that bear is probably habituated to some extent and poses a higher safety risk.

"There are so many signs but you have to be open enough to learn them," Koors said encouraging people who don't know the sign to take a class from Swan Valley Connections or go out with old-timers of the area. "Wildlife passing through your land is one thing. Wildlife hanging out or seeking reward is another thing."

If bear sign is found, Koors said ask, "Why is a bear drawn to my property?" If there is an incident, Koors encourages everyone to report it.

"The game managers are not out there to kill grizzly bears...they are going to look for a pattern," Koors said. "I think people are afraid to report. Windfall would have never happened if people would have reported it because they were afraid that [FWP Bear Manager] Tim [Manley] would come and kill it or give them a ticket because they had garbage all over."

Windfall was a young sow with three cubs in Condon that was euthanized in the fall of 2019 after accessing unsecured garbage, breaking into a building and becoming too comfortable with humans.

Koors said the FWP Bear Managers are "our friends. They will teach you. We are so lucky to have Jamie Jonkle and Tim Manley as our game managers. They have been in the field for years and years, they know bear behavior, they hate killing them and they are not out to write you a ticket. They are out to teach you a lesson."

This fall, FWP has received numerous reports of bears feeding on domestic fruit on residential properties, as well as serviceberries, chokecherries, hawthorn, and huckleberries. Koors said gardens are also an attractant as well as Halloween pumpkins and bird seed.

"Bird seed is like heroine to a bear," Koors said recalling what Jonkel told her 30 years ago.

Instead of hanging bird feeders during the summer, Koors suggests putting out a birdbath or building another water feature. To attract hummingbirds, plant a flower garden.

FWP staff work with landowners on electric fencing, loaning out bear-resistant garbage containers and securing attractants with the goal of preventing conflicts.

Koors said that bear resistant containers are not bear proof. While they are a great tool, she recommends securing them in a building when not out for pickup and cleaning them regularly. Leaving them on the side of the highway indefinitely creates another attractant that brings bears in contact with motorists.

Koors recalls 15 years ago when a grizzly bear was hit and killed on Highway 83 near Kraft Creek Road. Montana Department of Transportation was working on the road and noticed a grizzly bear regularly crossing. There were also reports of a grizzly bear getting into chicken coops on the west side of Highway 83.

The highway workers asked MDT to install a wildlife crossing sign to alert motorists. MDT installed a large flashing sign that read "Grizzly Bear Crossing." Within 48 hours of the sign being installed, someone shot it. That same season the male bear was hit crossing the road in the middle of the night. Koors said they raised the funds to get the bear mounted and is now on display at Swan Valley Connections.

"Bears know shapes, can smell, are very curious and smart," Koors said. "By leaving a container at the highway, you risk causing the bears' death from being hit by car. Bad for driver, bad for bear."

Koors said being "in town" in rural communities gives people a false sense of security. She has photos from several years ago of what she calls "night of the grizzlies." There were seven grizzlies feeding out of the dumpsters at the Mission Mountain Mercantile, yet she regularly sees cyclists camped next door by the post office.

This was also exemplified in Ovando earlier this summer. A cyclist was camped in a tent on the lawn in downtown Ovando and fatally mauled by a grizzly bear.

"I think Ovando has done a great job now trying to educate people," Koors said. "Don't even sleep in your tent with your toothpaste."

Koors would also like to see more education programs and presentations by local experts where they share their knowledge and experience. This could benefit both new and old residents about how to better live with wildlife.

"There is no reason to fear the wildlife here but be smart and learn," Koors said. "Take the time to learn about the creatures we share our valley with."

Seeing a bear is not necessarily a reportable encounter or an emergency. Report encounters where the bear displayed aggressive or defensive behavior toward people, livestock or pets or damaged property. In the Swan Valley call Tim Manley, 406-250-1265, tim.manley@mt.gov. In Missoula County call Jamie Jonkel, 406-542-5508, jajonkel@mt.gov or Eli Hampson, 406-210-3213, Eli.Hampson@mt.gov. In an emergency, phone 9-1-1. For livestock conflicts, contact USDA Wildlife Services 866-487-3297.

To learn more about grizzly bears in Montana visit https://fwp.mt.gov/conservation/species/bear.

Koors’ Quotes of the Day

1. Why would the Forest Service have a campground where bears are?

2. Toothpaste?  Why would a bear want my toothpaste?

3. I figured I was safe since I’ve set my tent up near buildings and not far from the road.

4. I didn’t know what a bear box is for.  (They are clearly labeled).

5. I only left my campsite and cooler unattended for a few hours.

6. My cooler only has beer in it.