The Bear Necessities

Before I left to work in Glacier for the Summer, everyone at NPS in the Denver Service Center was telling me to watch out for the bears. I’d tell someone I’m leaving and going to Glacier and their first response would be ‘have fun, but watch out for bears.’  So, I began to even joke around about the new bear friends I’d make while in the Park. To this date, I’ve had two bear sightings. And luckily this week I was able to get more information on how to deal with bears, what they eat, and studies done in the Glacier area. Bear training is required every three years for all Glacier Park employees and volunteers. There are even different levels of bear training depending on how much time your job is spent in the backcountry. Everyone has to take level one and it progresses all the way up to level four for rangers who have to deal with responding to visitors or employee reports on bears. Even being solely a Bear Ranger is a thing. 

I have always appreciated mother nature and am awed by her magnificence in both the plant and animal world. I also think myself pretty observant and good at reading people and animals. In this bear training, I got a great appreciation of the bear and confidence in myself to be a good reader of body language. This will be helpful in any bear encounters that may occur, but hopefully won’t. However, because of a 3% yearly increase in bears in the Glacier area, it’s becoming more and more likely. There are two species of bear whose territory includes Glacier National Park; you can find the American Black Bear and the Grizzly Bear in the Montana forests. The American Black Bear has a huge territory from Alaska down to Mexico, but of course only found in the Americas. There is an asian equivalent but it’s a different species and only found on the Asia continent. The Grizzly however can be found all over the world. I didn’t know this and was shocked to learn this species is found in Spain, Japan, and of course here in North America. All Grizzly populations are small and in America we really only have them in Alaska, North Cascades, Yellowstone, and Northern Montana. Glacier and Yellowstone have the largest populations and luckily the bear is really thriving. But, it is still listed as an endangered species because of unknown factors from climate change. 

Climate change is a big deal because contrary to popular belief, bears are actually 90% vegetarian. They have claws not to scratch us and take down prey, but to dig up roots, ants, and ground squirrels. Their diets are very adaptable and so they eat anything they can easily get their paws on. Glacier lilies, tree sap in the Spring, huckleberries, choke cherries, and cow parsnip are all regular staples of the bear diet. So, as our climate changes and we don’t know how plants may react, the future for the Grizzly is unknown. What is known is that there are about 230 Grizzly bears and 270 Black Bears in Glacier National Park. Of course their roaming territories cross over and outside of the Park, but a lot of the bears in Montana can call Glacier home. They are also attracted to the mountains to build dens (Grizzlies) and to the slopes in Spring to forage avalanche paths. Some of the meat they do eat comes from goats or deer being killed by avalanches over the Winter or carcasses from hunters and deer hit by vehicles. So bears really are not an ambush predator. They only attack when they feel threatened or scared. 

In the training, we went over recent bear attacks or killings and honestly it was mostly the human’s fault. Either the bears have become so used to humans (habituated) and then have tasted human food (food conditioned) and so know humans can have yummy stuff that provide an easy source of calories.  In the early days of Glacier, before the Bear Management Program began, restaurants opened their trash bins and provided viewing places for people to come watch the bears. Very bad idea. Bears then associate people with food and are more likely to get into trouble. In many of the stories it was improper disposal or storing of food that got someone in trouble.  Or the person scared a bear while it was eating a found deer carcass or pursued the bear to get photographs and entered the bears personal space. Really, from the talks and video we watched, it’s clear that bears aren’t a threat and just should be respected in their home. The best line of the day was ‘mutual departure.’ Bears will most likely not want to instigate anything if you happen upon them (and they aren’t scared), so just slowly backing away and reassuring you will leave is the most common option. 

Now for the fun part, telling the difference between a Grizzly Bear and a Black Bear. Color is not a good indication to species type. Good luck if you think you can be okay there. Some Black Bears are cinnamon colored, brown, and even white. How to tell the difference is by the shape of the face, protrusion of the ears, claws, and the hump on the back. Grizzlies have HUGE claws and a big paw print. They also have a curved in face described as a ‘dish face’ as well as a hump in between their shoulders.  Black Bears have a straight face, small claws as they like to climb trees more, and big ears that stick up. No hump for theses guys, but a big butt.  During training we were showed many pictures and had to guess which type of bear we thought it was. Sometimes it’s hard to tell. You can try your own hand with this test used by bear hunters in the state of Montana. Trust me, it’s hard. But, I know I was right two weeks ago in identifying the bear I saw at Many Glacier. No hump = Black Bear. YEAH, got one right!

Now with all this bear knowledge, I feel much more confident. Like I said in the beginning, I feel that I am very aware of my surroundings and I respect mother nature. Plus, I know the mountains are the bear’s home and I wouldn’t like it either if some human came tromping through my home unheard and scared the crap out of me. I liked what the Bear Management Ranger said when talking about bears. He basically said Bear Management is actually people management and education. We’re the ones who need to be trained, not the bears. Bears need to know we exist, but need to have a negative interaction with us so they stay away and not become too habituated which could lead to a food conditioned bear. That’s when you have a problem. So, long story short, don’t feed the bears. Noted. To leave us with a happy, back scratching feeling, here is a great video shared in training:

Awwwwww, yeah! Feeling good. 

Bear Grass grouping.

If you have been following the Glacier National Park Facebook page, you may have come across their post this week on Bear Grass. Yes, this is the real name of the plant and I learned why in bear training. This awesome plant is loved by the bears to line their den with soft, comfy foliage. I am obsessed with this plant. Before I left for Glacier, I kept seeing pictures of this fluffy, long-stemmed, white flowering plant. I was excited to see that it’s finally blooming around Headquarters. After bear training I went on a mission to take some pictures of this new obsession. It turned into a wildflower walk as I realized there were all sorts of other blooming beauties too. In my small housing area around Headquarters, we have Wild Roses, Lily of the Valley, Wild Strawberries, small Daisies, Forget-Me-Nots, Columbines, some kind of Orchid,  Dandelions, something almost like Babies Breath, Bear Grass, a Yellow Daisy, and much more. Take a look at some of my finds:

Bear Grass!

Some kind of Orchid! 

 False Salomon's Seal!

Queencup Beadlily!

Forget-Me-Nots! 

Columbine!

Yellow Daisy!

While bear training was important, I also made good progress in archiving this week. I moved on from health and safety topics and am now finishing up with major events in the Park. This ranges from dedications, anniversaries, and other observances from 1950 to 2007. It’s been fun going through the correspondence because a lot of it is invitations to important dignitaries and often they write back. In the 50th Anniversary of the Going-to-the-Sun Road files, there was a polite decline of attendance by First Lady Betty Ford. Wowza! So cool. Another highlight was when the Park Service was celebrating the Bicentennial of the Constitution in 1976 and seeing the outreach pictures at a local school. The fashion back then was incredible and some great moments were captured when three men and one woman from Glacier National Park brought a touring play to the local kids. Those interpretative Rangers were pretty awesome from looking at the pictures with their guitars and the letters from the children.  Next in my line-up is the Governor’s Conference from 1960 held in Glacier National Park. I peeked in the folders and there are personal sketches/caricatures of each Governor. Got to love government documents! 

East Glacier Lodge where the history lesson was given.

This week was also great because Friday I went on a road trip to East Glacier with Deirdre to listen to her Park history talk at interpreter training. I have loved being able to listen to these talks as it provides context and gives me a clearer view on how the Park functions. At the Friday interpreter training I also was able to listen to our Superintendent, Jeff Mow, give a presentation on climate change. He’s a great speaker and a very personable guy. After a lunch in East Glacier, where I randomly ran into one of my library school friends, we went to the Department of Interior’s Museum of the Plains Indians and checked in on a couple of pieces the Glacier Museum had lent this museum. Then, we drove back to West Glacier. Buttttt, on our way back, we noticed a lot of cars stopped on the side of the highway. In this neck of the woods, it means everyone is looking at something animal related. We then noticed three round brown things on the side of the mountain. Yep, you guessed it. BEARS! I thought to myself, ‘No way! This is too good to be true.’  It was a momma Grizzly with her two one-year old cubs. The bears were all intently digging on the hillside for roots and plants. Every once in a while they would move around or turn their heads toward us. They were a safe distance away from the road and up on a hill with a fence, so people were respecting their boundaries. What an experience! Here are some shots I got:

Our first look at the brown bumps on the hill.

Can you tell the difference in coat colors?

Mamma bear!

Remember how you can tell if they’re a Grizzly? They have a hump in between their shoulders and neck, large claws, and a dish face. Immediately when I saw them, I knew. Thanks, bear training! 

After work, I met up with my library friend, Jen, and her girlfriend, Alex. I knew they were coming up to Glacier, but I didn’t know they were going to be in town this weekend.They were staying on the East side, but came over to West Glacier and we toured the main viewing spots and then had dinner at the restaurant in West Glacier. It was such a treat!

Alex and Jen!

Also, I got neighbors on Friday! Two people showed up when I was giving Jen and Alex a tour of my studio. We stopped and introduced ourselves to each other. The woman, Aubrey, is right next to me and a guy, Rishi, is next to her on the other side. Aubrey and I share the bathroom in between us now. But more importantly, I HAVE PEOPLE NEXT TO ME! YEY!  Saturday morning, I got up and knocked on my new neighbor’s door and introduced myself again. Aubrey and I decided to grab breakfast in West Glacier and Rishi went running after I told him of one of the many routes I knew about. Aubrey and Rishi are graduate student interns for the Park’s administration working on looking at how better the Park can function in terms of people, money, and time. They will be here until the end of August and will be working with some of the head leaders of Glacier.   

Superintendent Mow!

Saturday was an exciting day as well. It was the 100th Anniversary of the Lake McDonald Lodge. All day there were ranger talks, commemorative celebrations, and movies on the role the Lodge has played in park history. From 12:30pm to 9:30pm events were going on to celebrate this iconic landmark. I even got to take a free red bus tour from the Apgar Transit Center up to Lake McDonald Lodge. The Superintendent talked, two local historians, the new head of Xanterra (the main concessioner in the Park), and finally a man who had come to stay in the lodge since he was a little kid. One of the lounge rooms was named after his family and he donated some stuffed animal heads when the historic ones were stolen one Winter. One of the historians, a Canadian, who had worked at the Prince of Wales hotel in Waterton, had co-authored a book that was actually recommended to me by my boss. As a part of the Centennial festivities, he was signing his book and had used some of the photos in our archival collection for the book and his presentation. I bought one! What a day. 

In the evening, Aubrey, Rishi, and I went out on the town and bar hopped around the valley. We figured out the bar right in West Glacier is showing the World Cup games as well as the bar in Coram that I have always seen a bunch of people at. We were lucky enough to happen upon a Jazz Funk band from Whitefish and they were awesome! I knew this bar would be a gem. Now I know where to get my live music fixes and it’s free! Most importantly, finally people to go explore and hike with. I’m moving beyond the bare necessities.