Bear activity ramping up with black bears, grizzlies

An adult American black bear. Credit: (U.S. Forest Service)

Black bears and grizzly bears are stuffing their faces — entering “feeding mode” — and the highest conflict period between humans and bears is starting, a bear management specialist with Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks said this week.

“Right now is the time period people need to be especially diligent,” said Jamie Jonkel, FWP wildlife management specialist.

That means doing things like taking down bird feeders and putting garbage in bear-resistant containers. Feeding time lasts through early November.

Jonkel works in western Montana in Missoula, Ravalli, Powell and Granite counties, and he said conflicts with humans so far this year have been low and steady, and the berry crop in the mountains is looking healthy.

He said he was worried the berries would all ripen at once and drop with the hot weather, but the recent cool-down will help. To fatten up for winter, the bears are munching on chokecherries, serviceberries and hawthorns.

“With these August thunderstorms coming through and temperatures dampening down to normal, the berry load is looking good,” Jonkel said.

But he said more grizzly activity also means more education is needed, too. Grizzlies are expanding their range, he said, and they’re being seen in the Bitterroot, Lower Clark Fork and Upper Clark Fork.

They’ve recently been seen outside Clinton and up by Snowbowl, the ski area at the edge of Missoula.

So people need to learn more about grizzlies. For example, Jonkel said people can’t live near a creek on the outskirts of town the same way they live in the middle of a city such as Missoula.

Also, some newcomers to Montana don’t know it’s illegal to use salt licks to attract wildlife, he said — or they want to hang four or five bird feeders in their yard and keep goats.

“A bear can’t tell the difference between a deer fawn and a goat,” Jonkel said.

To help, he said at least one bear manager, Brad Balis, is working around the clock to try to get ahead of the eight-ball — “the eight-ball being grizzlies” — and he said communities that have worked with FWP on awareness have seen successes.

“Great progress has been made the last two years in the Bitterroot Valley,” for example, Jonkel said.

He said FWP is also working in Philipsburg, Anaconda, and Deer Lodge.

Of course, some challenges persist.

“The peacocks are my worst nightmare,” Jonkel said. “They make so much noise. They’ve got that horrendous call that you can hear from 10 miles away, and it sounds like something being killed. So that really sucks in the game.”

With more people moving into more remote areas, along with more bears, garbage is a big problem.

According to Bear Smart Missoula, 49% of recorded bear-human interactions centered on bears and trash from 2018 to 2021, which led to a requirement for bear-resistant containers in “bear buffer zones.”

In the past, Missoula was getting overwhelmed by black bears, which he said are doing well, have been at “carrying capacity” for years, and are “very adaptable.” A 2022 Bear Hazard Assessment for Missoula says it’s “easier to describe what bears won’t eat than all the things they will eat.”

Jonkel put it this way: “Bears think with their tummy.”

Missoula has a lack of affordable housing, and Jonkel said bears have also affected homeless camps. Last year, he said bears entered tents where people were sleeping with their belongings, including food.

“We’ve had lots of bears get way too close and squish tents down, mostly last year,” Jonkel said.

He said solid protocols are helping, and all people have to follow food orders for places such as federal, state and county lands, even if they don’t have homes. Even in the urban interface, he said, people should hang groceries, not keep them in their tents.

“This community is going Bear Smart, and we’ve seen a tremendous change,” he said of Missoula.

Other places that have done work on bears include Alberton, Virginia City, Bozeman, Whitefish, Seeley, the Potomac and others.

In the last few years, he said, developments and “ranchettes” are popping up, humans are migrating from other areas into new subdivisions, and the people are bringing bear attractants with them.

“It’s been pretty crazy since COVID,” Jonkel said.

But he said once a community decides it wants to roll up its sleeves and work with FWP, seek grants from a non-governmental organization, and talk with local sanitation companies, things improve.

“Next thing you know, you see some progress,” Jonkel said.