BOZEMAN — Most of Montana is bear country, and with the mild winter we've been experiencing, that holds true into December.
True or false: bears hibernate in the winter? That is true but what you consider winter may not be what a bear considers to be winter.
“We've received recent reports of grizzly bear tracks being seen in the snow down by West Yellowstone as well as on Mill Creek near the Paradise Valley,” noted Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman Morgan Jacobsen.
Let’s face it, this is not what any of us think of as true winter, so some bears are still waiting for real winter to arrive and that means just hanging out sometimes.
“But oftentimes bears will sort of hang out near their den sites or if they find a carcass, they'll kind of hang out at that carcass and use the meat as long as they can,” Jacobsen said.
Most of Montana is bear country — summer or winter. So that means we all need to remember that when we head out on a hike or a snowshoe trek.
“Part of living in bear country and recreating in bear country we have to be used to being prepared throughout the year and not just when bears are awake all the time, but also when there's these chance encounters in the winter time as well,” Jacobsen told MTN.
Jacobsen says FWP would like to know if anyone sees bear tracks or signs of bears this time of year, so they can monitor that area for safety.
