The bears are out along the Rocky Mountain Front and more reports are surfacing of the animals’ activities.
Jaley Hitchcock captured on camera Monday morning a bear walking within feet of a home about five miles west of Dupuyer.
Dupuyer is about 22 miles from Valier, which has seen its fair share of bear activity within the last month.
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks (FWP) Prairie Bear Monitor reported Monday afternoon that two grizzlies were hazed from the southwest side of Lake Frances in Valier. Just over a week ago, a boater recorded two grizzly bears fighting each other while swimming in the lake.
A female grizzly and a yearling were captured after a livestock depredation on lower Dupuyer Creek around May 10. The old female and her yearling were translocated to the North Fork of the Flathead drainage, where they remain, according to the Prairie Bear Monitor.
We hazed two subadult bears on the south-west side of lake frances today (5/20). They ran into the brush along the lake. Hazing teaches bears to fear people.
Posted by Montana FWP Prairie Bear Monitor on Monday, May 20, 2019
Three grizzly bears have been euthanized in Montana in the past month.
FWP euthanized a grizzly bear in the Blackfoot Valley on May 12 following repeated break-ins at a barn to access grain.
A young, male grizzly was euthanized in the Sun River Valley on May 1 after killing several calves while a sub-adult male grizzly was put down in the Helmville Valley in late April for its involvement in livestock depredations.
FWP also released information last month concerning a grizzly bear that was shot and killed by a landowner west of Augusta on April 13.
Wildlife officials continue to remind landowners and recreationists to be bear aware as grizzlies are out of their dens along the Rocky Mountain Front.
They advised removing or securing attractants such as livestock feed, bird feeders, pet food, garbage, spilled grain and livestock carcasses.
