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Grizzly Bear Postcard #2:
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By Tana Kappel
The Nature Conservancy
Day 1: Searching for Grizzly Bears in Montana
Saturday, May 14, 2005: Pine Butte Guest Ranch
Spring has finally arrived on the Rocky Mountain Front and I’ve just arrived at the rustic Pine Butte Guest Ranch to participate in the Spring Grizzly Bear workshop led by bear expert Chuck Jonkel. Chuck has been studying bears at close range for more than 40 years, and he’s led this workshop for more than a decade.
All indications are that we’ll see lots of bears this week. On the way, I stopped at the Dusty and Danelle Crary ranch a few miles from here. Dusty and Danelle’s ranch is covered by a Nature Conservancy conservation easement.
Danelle said that a few days ago, Dusty surprised two sub-adult grizzlies in the calving pasture. They ran off when they saw his pick-up. These were possibly the same two that police ran out of Choteau earlier in the week. They were but a block away from the grade school, but the local newspaper reported the incident didn’t create much of a stir. The principal said, “It’s just not that uncommon, especially for the ranch kids. They see a lot of bears.”
Spring is grizzly mating season. Males and females stay together for a week or so, then separate and find new mates. This is also when the females drive last year’s cubs away. These sub-adults wander around and are not sure what to do, says Chuck. This is the stage when they are most likely to get in trouble.
Danelle also told me another grizzly, a 650-pound adult, was killed in a fight with a larger grizzly bear near the Gollehon ranch a few miles south of the Pine Butte Swamp Preserve. The winner of that fight must have been huge to best a 650-pound bear in the spring (after a winter of hibernating).
Next: Grizzly Bear Gourmet Food »
For More Information:
- The Nature Conservancy of Montana
Since 1979, The Nature Conservancy, working with local landowners and communities, has conserved nearly 500,000 acres of critical ranchland and wildlife habitat in Montana. - Events: Grizzly Bear Workshop
Learn about the magnificent grizzly from a man who has been studying them for more than 40 years. Biologist Chuck Jonkel will lead you on daily hikes from the Pine Butte Guest Ranch and on TNC's Pine Butte Swamp Preserve. - Visit: Pine Butte Guest Ranch is located in the heart of the Rocky Mountain Front, prime grizzly country. Our staff naturalist will guide you (saafely!) into the realm of the Great Bear explaining the ways and showing signs of the big bruins.
- Book: Crown of the Continent
(preface by Chuck Jonkel)
For 30 years, naturalist Ralph Waldt dedicated himself to exploring the 10-million-acre Crown of the Continent region. Now he has put his observations of the natural world into his first book. - Places We Protect: The Rocky Mountain Front
The Rocky Mountain Front is a convergence of mountains and prairies where the wild grizzly bear still ventures out onto the plains. - Places We Protect: Pine Butte Swamp Preserve
The Nature Conservancy continues an ambitious project to protect Montana's Pine Butte Swamp: the largest wetland complex along the Rocky Mountain Front and the grizzly bear's last stronghold on the plains. - How You Can Help: Donate Online
You can help save grizzly bear habitat and the last great places in Montana. Donate now!
Join The Nature Conservancy on