Looking for another sign of Spring?  We started with the leaders, dead skunks. Then  progressed to returning birds, robins. After that came blooming plants like pussywillows   and yellow waxy buttercups. What is next? Grizzly bears coming out of their dens.

Mike Madel, Fish, Wildlife and Parks bear management specialist flew the Rocky Mountain Front Tuesday looking for bear activity. Madel flew the Front from the Sun River north to Glacier Park. FWP have eight bears equipped with radio collars, four females are still denned and two males also haven’t come out yet.  The recent warm weather, however, will probably lead some bears to emerge quickly. When bears do come out, adult males usually emerge first.

“After emergence,” Madel says, “the bears will hang around their dens for 5-7 days before they wander in search of food.” Bear food this time year consists mostly of carrion, like winter-killed deer and elk, and livestock carcasses associated with calving activity at ranches along the Front.

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