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Grizzly Bears in Montana Grizzly Bears in Montana Postcard #2 Postcard #3 Spring Workshop Crown of the Continent book |
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Grizzly Bear Postcard #3:
Trail of the Grizzly Bear »
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Day 2: Grizzly Bear Gourmet Food
Sunday, May 15, 2005: Pine Butte Swamp Preserve, Montana
We’re hiking in the heart of the 13,000-acre Pine Butte Swamp Preserve in search of grizzly bears. We haven’t seen the elusive bruins, but we can tell by the plentiful grizzly tracks, scat and bear food that griz are all around us.
According to our indomitable instructor, bear expert Chuck Jonkel, “those griz are probably within a mile of us at any one time.”
Throughout the day, Chuck happily seeks out bear sign. We find lots of biscuit root in bloom. Chuck gets down on all fours and starts digging. He yanks up the root and eats some of it. “Mmmm tasty, try some.”
He thrusts the root at us. A few of us oblige.
Then we happen on a huge ant pile. Chuck, always the “grizzly bear,” is on all fours again, digging up tasty ants for us to sample. Manrique, another workshop participant, bravely slips one in his mouth and nods.
“Not bad,” he says.
We’re skeptical.
Grizzlies have huge claws that enable them to dig for their lunch, and ants provide them with lots of protein, especially during the spring and summer before the berry season.
A few steps away are piles of dirt dug up by subterranean pocket gophers. They dig from underground by filling up their cheeks with dirt, rocks and such and depositing them above ground. Bears that happen upon these deposits often pounce and dig for the pocket gophers.
Later, we find a huge squirrel midden under a gnarled limber pine. Eric, The Nature Conservancy’s Pine Butte naturalist, explains that squirrels eat the seeds from inside the pine cones and stash them as food for the winter. Bears find these stashes and dig in.
In this particular midden, the bear has decided to make a mid-day bed. We plead with Manrique to crawl into the bed for a photograph, and he obliges once again.
Next: On the Trail of the Grizzly Bear »
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: Spring 2006 and Fall 2006 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 on the Front, particularly in the Pine Butte Swamp Preserve, which has many features attractive to the bears. - 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!
