Reducing conflict key to living in bear country
By ABBIE TUMBLESON West Yellowstone News
You can imagine what a bear does when it's trotting down a wooded path and suddenly approaches asphalt. The bear might sniff it, but it's not afraid of it. It's not going to yield for pedestrians in the street or stop at a traffic light. In most cases it's going to see where it can get some dinner throughout the linear meadow it is met with in West Yellowstone.
You can imagine what a bear does when it's trotting down a wooded path and suddenly approaches asphalt. The bear might sniff it, but it's not afraid of it. It's not going to yield for pedestrians in the street or stop at a traffic light. In most cases it's going to see where it can get some dinner throughout the linear meadow it is met with in West Yellowstone.
Along with that search for food in town, bears will follow wherever a scent of food or memory of a previous snack takes them. Some say it's just part of the unique nature of living between two forests. But there's no denying the reality of a hungry bear creating conflict along the way to dinner, conflict that can damage property and threaten lives as it wanders down the streets that are also routes for children walking to school.
Reducing conflict isn't as easy as flipping a switch or putting up a fence or moving a bear to another spot in the forest. The bears aren't going to go away. Neither are the people. And that space between bears and people is shrinking. The bears probably won't get any smarter living among people, so people have to.
Reducing conflict is less about reacting defensively to a bear's visit as it is about reducing reasons for bears to visit, which is usually all about the food. Laws and regulations are just some of the ways the community has smartened up so Winnie the Pooh and his friends can't break into the honey pot.
The town of West Yellowstone implemented a bear ordinance 22 years ago, requiring appropriate trash disposal and the usage of bear-proof containers. It has helped clean up the town and bear conflicts, according to West Yellowstone Police Chief Gordon Berger. Bear-proof dumpsters, trash receptacles and recycling bins have replaced flimsier containers of the past.
Bears frequented town more when the bear ordinance wasn't in place, according to resident Stephanie Young."My friends and I used to drive around looking for bears," she said. The bears would hang out in neighborhood yards or by old dumpsters.She didn't have to look for very long.
Young has had a bear aware mindset since a bear broke into her family's house 24 years ago.The incident is rare and humorous -- Young hasn't met anyone else with a similar experience. It also illustrates that the residents of West Yellowstone live in extremely close proximity to bears and that the bears don't have boundaries. A female grizzly didn't see the line between woods and residence when she stumbled upon the Seely home. The sow found her way into Clyde and Linda Seely's, Young's parents, garage one Sunday evening in search of dog food that was stored inside. The Seelys waited for the bear to leave and then made sure all the garage doors were shut, according to Young.To Young's surprise, the bear came back for another visit, this time breaking into the house.She arrived at the Obsidian Avenue home alone the next night. The rest of the family was out seeing a movie in Bozeman for her brother, who had recently got out of a body cast As she was getting ready to go inside, she noticed that the garage had been torn apart and that the sheetrock on the walls had been ripped through. She thought someone had broken in and immediately called her sister's fiancé, who was a police officer in West Yellowstone at the time. The police came to look at the damaged garage without knowing a bear was trapped in the basement of the house.
"After they looked around in the garage, the cops left and I went into the house when the family got home," Young said.When the family entered the house they were met with toppled furniture and trails of bear scat."We lived in a split-level house and the bear managed to get through several rooms before it got into my bedroom. There were nose marks all along the windows and it had knocked down everything," Young said.
The family along with the police figured out that the bear must have pushed her way through the back door leading into the garage. She then made it through the door leading from the garage into the house, somehow shutting each door behind her. The further the sow went, the more trapped she became in the house."The bear had somehow trapped herself in my sister's bedroom in the basement. It finally broke through a window in the bedroom and got out," she said.
The bear didn't leave until it vented its frustration and fear. The family's dogs were hoarse from all the barking they did to ward off the bear, according to Young. Young suspects the dogs saw the sow getting lost throughout the house."The dogs were on the upstairs level of the house," she said.The Seelys had to wait to clean up the mess the bear left behind until insurance officials could come and take photographs. No one believed that a bear caused the damage, according to Young.
Wildlife officials wanted to make sure the bear wouldn't come back for a third visit. So, Fish Wildlife & Parks officials set a bear trap the next day and within two days the bear was captured.She most likely kept returning to the house because she had found a food source."Once bears sniff out a food source, that just keeps them coming back for more," Berger said.
The bear had been collared and tracked in the past by wildlife officials. The collar is put in place when a bear is tranquilized and then issued a radio tracking collar so that it's migration can be followed with the rest of the species population.Not everyone gets to choose the destiny of an unruly bear, but the Seelys had the unique opportunity to decide what would happen to the intrusive sow. They chose to have the bear transported to the other side of Wyoming.
"My parents had the choice to have her euthanized or moved. They kept track of her and she didn't cause anymore trouble that we know of," Young said. "They (wildlife officials) moved her far away because they told us bears will travel to return to a place they've found food at in the past."
The town of West Yellowstone is taking additional steps to assure that a repeat incident like the Seelys' doesn't happen again.The proper disposal and storage of food attractants is still a main way to deter bears from town. Bear safety methods often practiced in backcountry camping can be applied to town living.
West Yellowstone resident Steve Hoovler is a backcountry guide during the summer season. He has witnessed bears passing through camps in Yellowstone National Park.Hoovler is super precautious with food safety and how campers and he store and separate food on camping trips.The same precautionary steps are practiced in town by residents who store pet food indoors, put trash in bear-proof dumpsters and make sure the streets are free of litter.
"I make sure everything is clean and we set up camps pretty much how YNP mandates it. We have a core camp -- where food is hung, where the fire pit is and a bear pole to hang food out of the way of wildlife," he said.The tents are placed at least 100 yards away from the core camp and no food, or even ChapStick or a stick of gum isn't allowed near the tents."There's nothing that smells like anything but people (near the tents). We're really, really strict about that," he said.
Small mistakes can mean a bear attack and injury or death to people in the backcountry as well as in residential areas."I think the biggest mistake that I see made has to do with campsites and not respecting the bear's nose. That grizzly bear spends its summer rolling over 1,000 lb. logs to eat ants," Hoovler said. However, even small food items with just a hint of flavor are enough to alert the bear.
Hoovler believes that some of those backcountry measures should be applied when living in town. West Yellowstone is sandwiched between National Forest Service lands that bears frequent all year."The town is in close proximity to the backcountry; Boundary Street is the boundary to YNP," he said.
Bear sightings decrease this time of year, but just because there's a blanket of snow on the ground doesn't mean that all the bears have denned for the winter. Two bears were sighted on Boundary Street on Nov. 7. The National Forest Service hung a sign at the trailhead to remind patrons to carry bear spray and to be cautious on the trail.Of 20 radio-collared bears located by FWP since the beginning of November, about 60 percent are denned for the winter, according to FWP bear management specialist Kevin Frey.
Three bears were observed walking around or in locations that were probably not den areas, according to Frey, resulting in 15 percent of the bears still being semi-active as of Dec. 6.Every year there are a few reports or sightings of bears still out in December to early January. These are usually large male bears that are almost sleepwalking or smaller bears that are still trying to find one more meal, according to Frey.
"People who live, work or recreate in bear country need to consider that even though most bears den by mid-November, that there is always a chance of a late fall/early winter (bear) encounter," he said.Bears may also be near homes or camps on their way to den, so no matter what season it is, Frey advises to always keep food attractants secure.
Securing food attractants is on the top of Berger's list before West Yellowstone gets slammed with winter weather and restaurants re-open for the winter season.The big green metal box sitting outside of the WYPD isn't just another bear-proof dumpster. It is temporarily on display to show locals what can be used to dispose of restaurant grease. Restaurant grease is the waste product drained out of fryers and grills, so the aroma of food sits in the grease. That smell of food attracts bears.
Berger hopes that the bear-proof container will be the solution to the ongoing grease disposal problem in town. Two local restaurants were cited last month for having plastic grease barrels outside of their establishments. They thought the containers they had were bear-proof, according to Berger. But nothing plastic is bear-proof, he noted. "The Island Park Forest Service dropped it off to give the community an idea of what's available and bear-proof," Berger said.The container has been tested and it seems to be pretty bear-proof, according to Berger. The metal container can fit two 55-gallon drums of used restaurant grease, has a latch on the top, very similar to the bear-proof dumpster latches, that opens up to a pour area for the grease. The grease is then sifted into two openings, one on each side, and emptied into the drums housed inside the container. "It can be modified to fit whatever container is going to be in it," Berger said.The containers cost between $600 and $1,200, according to Berger.Most of the restaurants have closed their doors for the off-season, but Berger wants to have a discussion with the businesses before the winter season kicks off."I want this resolved this fall. It's just one less thing to worry about, that's taken care of," he said.
Berger knows that the bears will always mosey through town, especially once they've found a food source. That's what Berger believes to be the root of the problem.Berger and FWP Game Warden for the West Yellowstone area Jim Smolczynski have been staying in close contact with discussions about bear problems in town.
Berger has worked hard to get all the grease barrels in town emptied."Grease barrels will be a thing of the past now that we got them all cleaned out," Berger said.He would like to meet with the different food establishments in town to talk about the benefits of the containers."I wish all the restaurants were here to see the container and if it will work for them," he said.Grease barrels aren't the only culprits attracting bears. Litter, birdfeeders, discarded gut piles or animal carcasses, along with scattered trash can also present bears with easy feasting options.
Berger has been in West Yellowstone for 24 years and has become familiar with the weather patterns. He noticed that West had an unusually warm fall season."It's been a weird year for Mother Nature. I've never seen this high of bear activity since I've been here," he said. A low abundance of preferred foods causes more bear activity and the more bears you have, the more interactions they have with humans, according to Frey. "Long cold winters or late springs can set the stage for an early summer shuffle by bears to make up for days lost without quality feeding. The bears are then on an all-season catch-up. That is usually the case for young adult bears and females raising cubs," Frey said.
Berger has seen more bears this fall than in past years.The bears seemed to be particularly attracted to the grease barrels and garbage this fall, according to Berger.Once the grease disposal containers are in place someone is going to need to collect the discarded liquids.Deciding who collects the old grease will be the responsibility of the restaurants, according to Berger.Westmart owner Greg Forsythe collects used grease to convert to biodiesel for his company vehicles, according to Berger. Golden Recycling, out of Pocatello, Idaho, also collects it.
It seems as though both the human and bear populations are on the rise in bear country.People are moving closer to wilderness areas. Daily life in bear country can encompass camping in backcountry of barbecuing in your backyard. And, it doesn't look like the bears plan on leaving the area anytime soon. The space between our backyards and the forest is shrinking so carrying a can of bear spray when going on a hike or making sure your garbage is in a bear-proof dumpster are all wise tips to follow in this region. Being aware of your surroundings is one of the simplest, but most important safety rules you can follow in bear country to help reduce the bear-human conflicts in West Yellowstone."I always try to tell people to be aware of what they're doing and where they're at," Hoovler said. "A bear can sneak up and surprise you unknowingly and that usually happens when you don't know where you're at and what you're doing."
Reducing conflict isn't as easy as flipping a switch or putting up a fence or moving a bear to another spot in the forest. The bears aren't going to go away. Neither are the people. And that space between bears and people is shrinking. The bears probably won't get any smarter living among people, so people have to.
Reducing conflict is less about reacting defensively to a bear's visit as it is about reducing reasons for bears to visit, which is usually all about the food. Laws and regulations are just some of the ways the community has smartened up so Winnie the Pooh and his friends can't break into the honey pot.
The town of West Yellowstone implemented a bear ordinance 22 years ago, requiring appropriate trash disposal and the usage of bear-proof containers. It has helped clean up the town and bear conflicts, according to West Yellowstone Police Chief Gordon Berger. Bear-proof dumpsters, trash receptacles and recycling bins have replaced flimsier containers of the past.
Bears frequented town more when the bear ordinance wasn't in place, according to resident Stephanie Young."My friends and I used to drive around looking for bears," she said. The bears would hang out in neighborhood yards or by old dumpsters.She didn't have to look for very long.
Young has had a bear aware mindset since a bear broke into her family's house 24 years ago.The incident is rare and humorous -- Young hasn't met anyone else with a similar experience. It also illustrates that the residents of West Yellowstone live in extremely close proximity to bears and that the bears don't have boundaries. A female grizzly didn't see the line between woods and residence when she stumbled upon the Seely home. The sow found her way into Clyde and Linda Seely's, Young's parents, garage one Sunday evening in search of dog food that was stored inside. The Seelys waited for the bear to leave and then made sure all the garage doors were shut, according to Young.To Young's surprise, the bear came back for another visit, this time breaking into the house.She arrived at the Obsidian Avenue home alone the next night. The rest of the family was out seeing a movie in Bozeman for her brother, who had recently got out of a body cast As she was getting ready to go inside, she noticed that the garage had been torn apart and that the sheetrock on the walls had been ripped through. She thought someone had broken in and immediately called her sister's fiancé, who was a police officer in West Yellowstone at the time. The police came to look at the damaged garage without knowing a bear was trapped in the basement of the house.
"After they looked around in the garage, the cops left and I went into the house when the family got home," Young said.When the family entered the house they were met with toppled furniture and trails of bear scat."We lived in a split-level house and the bear managed to get through several rooms before it got into my bedroom. There were nose marks all along the windows and it had knocked down everything," Young said.
The family along with the police figured out that the bear must have pushed her way through the back door leading into the garage. She then made it through the door leading from the garage into the house, somehow shutting each door behind her. The further the sow went, the more trapped she became in the house."The bear had somehow trapped herself in my sister's bedroom in the basement. It finally broke through a window in the bedroom and got out," she said.
The bear didn't leave until it vented its frustration and fear. The family's dogs were hoarse from all the barking they did to ward off the bear, according to Young. Young suspects the dogs saw the sow getting lost throughout the house."The dogs were on the upstairs level of the house," she said.The Seelys had to wait to clean up the mess the bear left behind until insurance officials could come and take photographs. No one believed that a bear caused the damage, according to Young.
Wildlife officials wanted to make sure the bear wouldn't come back for a third visit. So, Fish Wildlife & Parks officials set a bear trap the next day and within two days the bear was captured.She most likely kept returning to the house because she had found a food source."Once bears sniff out a food source, that just keeps them coming back for more," Berger said.
The bear had been collared and tracked in the past by wildlife officials. The collar is put in place when a bear is tranquilized and then issued a radio tracking collar so that it's migration can be followed with the rest of the species population.Not everyone gets to choose the destiny of an unruly bear, but the Seelys had the unique opportunity to decide what would happen to the intrusive sow. They chose to have the bear transported to the other side of Wyoming.
"My parents had the choice to have her euthanized or moved. They kept track of her and she didn't cause anymore trouble that we know of," Young said. "They (wildlife officials) moved her far away because they told us bears will travel to return to a place they've found food at in the past."
The town of West Yellowstone is taking additional steps to assure that a repeat incident like the Seelys' doesn't happen again.The proper disposal and storage of food attractants is still a main way to deter bears from town. Bear safety methods often practiced in backcountry camping can be applied to town living.
West Yellowstone resident Steve Hoovler is a backcountry guide during the summer season. He has witnessed bears passing through camps in Yellowstone National Park.Hoovler is super precautious with food safety and how campers and he store and separate food on camping trips.The same precautionary steps are practiced in town by residents who store pet food indoors, put trash in bear-proof dumpsters and make sure the streets are free of litter.
"I make sure everything is clean and we set up camps pretty much how YNP mandates it. We have a core camp -- where food is hung, where the fire pit is and a bear pole to hang food out of the way of wildlife," he said.The tents are placed at least 100 yards away from the core camp and no food, or even ChapStick or a stick of gum isn't allowed near the tents."There's nothing that smells like anything but people (near the tents). We're really, really strict about that," he said.
Small mistakes can mean a bear attack and injury or death to people in the backcountry as well as in residential areas."I think the biggest mistake that I see made has to do with campsites and not respecting the bear's nose. That grizzly bear spends its summer rolling over 1,000 lb. logs to eat ants," Hoovler said. However, even small food items with just a hint of flavor are enough to alert the bear.
Hoovler believes that some of those backcountry measures should be applied when living in town. West Yellowstone is sandwiched between National Forest Service lands that bears frequent all year."The town is in close proximity to the backcountry; Boundary Street is the boundary to YNP," he said.
Bear sightings decrease this time of year, but just because there's a blanket of snow on the ground doesn't mean that all the bears have denned for the winter. Two bears were sighted on Boundary Street on Nov. 7. The National Forest Service hung a sign at the trailhead to remind patrons to carry bear spray and to be cautious on the trail.Of 20 radio-collared bears located by FWP since the beginning of November, about 60 percent are denned for the winter, according to FWP bear management specialist Kevin Frey.
Three bears were observed walking around or in locations that were probably not den areas, according to Frey, resulting in 15 percent of the bears still being semi-active as of Dec. 6.Every year there are a few reports or sightings of bears still out in December to early January. These are usually large male bears that are almost sleepwalking or smaller bears that are still trying to find one more meal, according to Frey.
"People who live, work or recreate in bear country need to consider that even though most bears den by mid-November, that there is always a chance of a late fall/early winter (bear) encounter," he said.Bears may also be near homes or camps on their way to den, so no matter what season it is, Frey advises to always keep food attractants secure.
Securing food attractants is on the top of Berger's list before West Yellowstone gets slammed with winter weather and restaurants re-open for the winter season.The big green metal box sitting outside of the WYPD isn't just another bear-proof dumpster. It is temporarily on display to show locals what can be used to dispose of restaurant grease. Restaurant grease is the waste product drained out of fryers and grills, so the aroma of food sits in the grease. That smell of food attracts bears.
Berger hopes that the bear-proof container will be the solution to the ongoing grease disposal problem in town. Two local restaurants were cited last month for having plastic grease barrels outside of their establishments. They thought the containers they had were bear-proof, according to Berger. But nothing plastic is bear-proof, he noted. "The Island Park Forest Service dropped it off to give the community an idea of what's available and bear-proof," Berger said.The container has been tested and it seems to be pretty bear-proof, according to Berger. The metal container can fit two 55-gallon drums of used restaurant grease, has a latch on the top, very similar to the bear-proof dumpster latches, that opens up to a pour area for the grease. The grease is then sifted into two openings, one on each side, and emptied into the drums housed inside the container. "It can be modified to fit whatever container is going to be in it," Berger said.The containers cost between $600 and $1,200, according to Berger.Most of the restaurants have closed their doors for the off-season, but Berger wants to have a discussion with the businesses before the winter season kicks off."I want this resolved this fall. It's just one less thing to worry about, that's taken care of," he said.
Berger knows that the bears will always mosey through town, especially once they've found a food source. That's what Berger believes to be the root of the problem.Berger and FWP Game Warden for the West Yellowstone area Jim Smolczynski have been staying in close contact with discussions about bear problems in town.
Berger has worked hard to get all the grease barrels in town emptied."Grease barrels will be a thing of the past now that we got them all cleaned out," Berger said.He would like to meet with the different food establishments in town to talk about the benefits of the containers."I wish all the restaurants were here to see the container and if it will work for them," he said.Grease barrels aren't the only culprits attracting bears. Litter, birdfeeders, discarded gut piles or animal carcasses, along with scattered trash can also present bears with easy feasting options.
Berger has been in West Yellowstone for 24 years and has become familiar with the weather patterns. He noticed that West had an unusually warm fall season."It's been a weird year for Mother Nature. I've never seen this high of bear activity since I've been here," he said. A low abundance of preferred foods causes more bear activity and the more bears you have, the more interactions they have with humans, according to Frey. "Long cold winters or late springs can set the stage for an early summer shuffle by bears to make up for days lost without quality feeding. The bears are then on an all-season catch-up. That is usually the case for young adult bears and females raising cubs," Frey said.
Berger has seen more bears this fall than in past years.The bears seemed to be particularly attracted to the grease barrels and garbage this fall, according to Berger.Once the grease disposal containers are in place someone is going to need to collect the discarded liquids.Deciding who collects the old grease will be the responsibility of the restaurants, according to Berger.Westmart owner Greg Forsythe collects used grease to convert to biodiesel for his company vehicles, according to Berger. Golden Recycling, out of Pocatello, Idaho, also collects it.
It seems as though both the human and bear populations are on the rise in bear country.People are moving closer to wilderness areas. Daily life in bear country can encompass camping in backcountry of barbecuing in your backyard. And, it doesn't look like the bears plan on leaving the area anytime soon. The space between our backyards and the forest is shrinking so carrying a can of bear spray when going on a hike or making sure your garbage is in a bear-proof dumpster are all wise tips to follow in this region. Being aware of your surroundings is one of the simplest, but most important safety rules you can follow in bear country to help reduce the bear-human conflicts in West Yellowstone."I always try to tell people to be aware of what they're doing and where they're at," Hoovler said. "A bear can sneak up and surprise you unknowingly and that usually happens when you don't know where you're at and what you're doing."
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