Between the winter thaw and the summer sun there arrives two annual influxes of new area residents. The beach-lounging lake crowd, and the bears.
This late winter has kept both populations away, but recent weeks has seen the beginning of bear movement in the area, and while most of the collared grizzlies haven’t ventured far it’s only a short matter of time before they start leaving their winter dens and exploring the same areas that humans inhabit and enjoy.
“I’ve got four radio collars that are out of the den,” said Erik Wenum, Fish, Park, and Wildlife’s Management Specialist in the Swan Valley.
Of the four bears who have ended their hibernation, three are female. Those without cubs will wake up faster and start moving around outside the den more frequently, while new mothers will tend to stay close to the den later into the season.
“They’re a little slower to come out,” Wenum said. “They’re a little slower to move away simply because the cubs are so small.”
Judging by movements measured by GPS, Wenum and the FWP are guessing that two of the females have yearlings but aren’t quite sure about the third.
“She should,” Wenum said. “She is age appropriate, but this would be her first year having cubs. So whether she has come through or not, we don’t know yet. I would think that she probably does not right now, because she’s out of the den.”
“I think she’s spending quite a bit of time on what we call the porch, which is the opening of the den,” Wenum said.
The fourth collared bear is a male and is slowly waking up from his seasonal sleep. He’s been moving around on the ridge where his den is located, but Wenum said the bear hasn’t started moving downhill quite yet so he is still pretty far off from human areas.
Residents of the Seeley and Swan Lake regions are no strangers to bears or bear safety, but they should always be bear aware and informed of any nearby bears. While the bears under observation are safe distances from populated areas it’s important to note that most bears aren’t collared and the lakes region is home to many wild bears and migrating individuals who will cross through the area on their way to other places without any kind of FWP monitoring.
“There’s a whole host of bears that are certainly not radio collared,” Wenum said. “Including adult males, who are the first ones to come out.”
Wenum estimates it will be another 10 days or so before the collared bears start getting closer to town. But because of the unmonitored population, and the possibility of unexpected behavior he is suggesting that area residents start making preparations for bear movement.
“I would go ahead and encourage folks to electrify the chicken [coops], store the food and the grain-based feeds, livestock feeds of any kind, whatever you might have,” Wenum said. “Get those locked up and secure.”
“Spring has sprung and the bears are starting to move.”
FWP, in collaboration with Swan Valley Connections, will be hosting their annual Bear Wake Up potluck and bear education event at the Condon Community Hall on April 5. The event will feature more information about bears in the area and how to better bear-proof property and livestock facilities
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