News About Bears: My List of Fabulous Finds (Week 18)

What have your newspaper headlines been this month? 

In our Montana news, there has been a lot of articles about bears! 

While some of this week's "finds" may be more interesting than fabulous, I thought I'd give you a little glimpse into life in Montana.


Today's List of Fabulous Finds is all about bears! 

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This Week's Fabulous Finds:

~ ~ Bear Road-Kill

The Helena Independent Record ran a story on its October 12th front page about "bear road-kill." An unusually high number of bears have been killed by cars in Western Montana this month. A scarcity of food in the mountains has driven wildlife closer to civilization this year. I would really, really not want to hit one with my car! You can read the story here:

• Bear Road Kill Unusually High in Western Montana; next two weeks expected to be even worse. 

~ ~ Speedy Speed Limits

Most of our Interstate highway speed limits have just been increased from 75 mph to 80 mph. I am not sure if any of the previously mentioned bears were killed in areas where the speed limit is now 80 mph, but I can't help but wonder if it was a factor in any of their deaths.  Like everyone else, I like being able to get where I am going just a little bit faster, but the amount of distance it takes to bring a car to a stop does increase with higher speeds.

• Some Montana Speed Limits Increase to 80 mph.

~ ~ Hunter wakes up to a Bear

On October 8th, our paper ran a story about a hunter in Idaho who woke up and realized a black bear was biting his head! It appears it is not just Montana bears who are having increased contact with humans this year! It's quite a story - you can read it here:

• Sleeping Idaho Hunter Wakes up to a Black Bear Biting His Head

~ ~ Use Caution When Hiking and Camping in Bear Country

A couple of weeks ago a hiker in Glacier National Park was grabbed by a bear, but he managed to deploy his can of bear spray and get away.  This article has the story, and some good advice for anyone hiking where bears are prevalent.

• Hiker survives attack by grizzly bear in Glacier National Park

~ ~ This Bear May Have Been Looking for a High School Diploma 

A bear found his way into a high school in Bozeman on Wednesday morning, and took a look around! Read about the incident and watch the video here:

• Black Bear Wanders Into Bozeman High School

Video by Leon Uebelhoer, foreign exchange student from Germany
Posted by KBZK TV on Wednesday, October 14, 2015

~ ~ Schools and Bears

Bears (sort of) are frequently mentioned in the sports pages of our newspapers - whenever the University of Montana State Grizzlies and the Capital High School Bruins play!

~ ~ The Bears Were Here First

It is a little too close for comfort to have a bear in front of our moving vehicles, or within the halls of a high school, but most people here are happy to catch a (safe) glimpse of one in the wild. In fact, an agreement was just appoved this week by a Federal judge to protect more than 22,000 acres of grizzly bear habitat.

• Judge OKs agreement protecting 22,000 acres of grizzly bear habitat near Whitefis

~ ~ Wildlife out my front door

 So far this year, I haven't seen any signs of bears around our house - but there certainly have been lots of deer. They have no fear. This photo shows how close they let me get to them wih my car, without them looking the least bit flustered.

Deer are not the only wild animals that visit us though. There are definitely bear in the area. One year we found bear scat just 15 feet from our front door, and one summer a black bear wandered by not too far from our house in the middle of the day.

~ ~ A Message from the Bears

A bear's perspective ...  This photo was posted by a friend on Facebook and showed up in my Facebook feed today:

Have you ever seen a bear?

Does your newspaper have front-page headlines about bear? 

Are there bears in your neighborhood?

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