I Saw A Bear This Morning Near UM Campus

I wake up pretty early in the morning, and I'm generally out of the house by about 5:40 AM to make it into the station for the morning show. Today, I didn't account for how much ice would be on my car, so I had to wait a couple of extra minutes while I let the heater blast to do its job. If I hadn't had to wait that extra few minutes, I probably would have missed it entirely - as I pulled out of the driveway, I looked to my right to make sure there were no cars coming that way. And there wasn't... instead, there was a BEAR.

We've talked earlier this month about how Missoula is slowly being taken over by bears, and this just confirms it. On Friday, the University of Montana sent out an alert about a bear sighting near campus. And guess what? I live right near campus - I spotted the bear walking along 6th street. It walked slowly at first, but then I think it may have been spooked by my headlights and started running in the opposite direction.

As it turns out, UM police sent out another bear alert around midnight last night, so it seems likely that this is the same bear I saw. The good news is, according to people who encountered it last night, the bear is not aggressive, but still, remember to be safe out there. Officers suggest that if you encounter a bear, your best course of action is to continue facing it and just back away slowly rather than running away.

Have you spotted this bear around town? Did it make it further than 6th street?