• Skip to main content
  • Skip to secondary menu
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Subscribe
  • Donate

WyoFile

Indepth News about Wyoming People, Places & Policy. Wyoming news.

  • Latest News
    • Education
    • Energy
    • Legislature
    • Native America
    • Natural Resources
    • People
    • Photo Friday
    • Places
    • Policy
  • Voices
    • Drake’s Take
    • Madden’s Measure
    • Guest Column
    • Studio Wyoming Review
  • Supporters
    • Membership
    • Underwriting
    • Foundations
  • COVID-19
  • Latest News
    • Education
    • Energy
    • Legislature
    • Native America
    • Natural Resources
    • People
    • Photo Friday
    • Places
    • Policy
  • Voices
    • Drake’s Take
    • Madden’s Measure
    • Guest Column
    • Studio Wyoming Review
  • Supporters
    • Membership
    • Underwriting
    • Foundations
  • COVID-19

Prepare for bears

April 2, 2013 by Kelsey Dayton Leave a Comment

Tweet
Share
Pin
Email
0 Shares
Print Friendly, PDF & Email

Prepare for bears

Prepare for bears

April 2, 2013

It might not feel like it, depending on where you are in Wyoming, but its spring time and that means the bears are emerging from hibernation.

In Grand Teton National Park, some of Wyoming’s most famous bears should be emerging with young. The Grand Teton National Park Foundation reported a park biologist said Grizzly Bear No. 610 should emerge with her 2 year-old cubs. The cubs will likely wean during spring or early summer, the foundation’s newsletter reported.

Kelsey Dayton
Kelsey Dayton

Grizzly bear No. 399, one of the park’s most photographed bears, could come out with a new batch of cubs. She weaned her yearlings a year earlier than normal in 2012. Bears with new young are usually the last ones to emerge from their dens.

Meanwhile adult males are the first out of their dens. By mid-March usually 50 percent of adult males have come out. Grand Teton had its first reported grizzly bear tracks March 15. Since then, there have been bear sightings in the park, as well as in Yellowstone National Park.

Tracks have been observed in the Jackson and Cody areas. The timing follows normal behavior, said Brian DeBolt, large carnivore conflict coordinator with the Wyoming Game and Fish in a press release.

That means it’s time to start being bear aware and packing your bear spray, whether you are still traveling by skis and snowshoes, or venturing out for early season hiking. While firearms are allowed in national parks, discharging firearms is a violation of regulations, a release from Yellowstone said. Even park law enforcement rangers who carry firearms relay on bear spray as the most effective way to deal with bear encounters, the release said.

Don't forget to carry your bear spray on your next outing. Grizzly bears are emerging from hibernation. (Photo by Jackie Skaggs/Grand Teton National Park)
Don’t forget to carry your bear spray on your next outing. Grizzly bears are emerging from hibernation. (Photo courtesy Jackie Skaggs/Grand Teton National Park)

In early spring bears frequent big game winter range looking for winter-killed deer and elk and can react aggressively if surprised while feeding. In recent years, grizzlies have expanded their areas as the population has grown. People should remember that grizzlies might be present in areas they didn’t use to frequent. In the national parks people are asked to report bear sightings to the nearest visitor or ranger station

Last year there were 213 human-grizzly bear conflicts reported in the Jackson, Pinedale, Lander and Cody areas, DeBolt said. In most cases the bears obtained human food, livestock or pet food or garbage in developed areas, but didn’t interact with people.

Be prepared

Adult males are the first bears to emerge. Females with cubs come out of hibernation later in the spring. (Photo Courtesy Gary Pollock, Grand Teton National Park).
Adult males are the first bears to emerge. Females with cubs, like grizzly No. 610 pictured above with a cub two years ago,  come out of hibernation later in the spring. (Photo courtesy Gary Pollock/ Grand Teton National Park).

If you live in bear country, secure garbage. Clean barbecue grills and store in a shed or garage if possible. Access to human food and garbage can be a death sentence for bears. If they lose fear of people they often become nuisances and safety concerns.

Don’t approach bears. Use binoculars, a spotting scope or a telephoto lens to get a closer look.

If you recreate in bear country hike in a group and make noise. Learn to recognize tracks and scat. Avoid carcasses. Carry bear spray in easily accessible spot and know how to use it.

To make sure you are ready for summer recreating in Wyoming, check out Wyoming Game and Fish’s bear, lion and wolf seminars which focus on how to react in encounters with these predators. Presentations include behavior, biology, population information and safety, legal issues and the most current information on using bear spray. Seminars are free and open to all ages.

Sheridan: 6 to 8 p.m. April 3, Sheridan College, C-TEL Hall, 3059 Coffeen Ave.

Farson-Eden: 6 to 8 p.m. April 4, Farson-Eden Community Center, 4039 Highway 191.

Lander: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 10, Fremont County Library 200 Amoretti St.

Powell: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 11, Northwest College, Fagerberg Building, Room 70, 231 West Sixth Street.

Rawlins: 6 to 8 p.m. April 11, Jeffrey Memorial Center 315 W. Pine Street.

Cody: 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. April 14, Park County Library, 1500 Heart Mountain Street.

Casper: 7 to 9 p.m. April 15, Game and Fish regional Office, 3030 Energy Lane, Suite 100.

Pinedale: 6 to 8 p.m. April 24, Sublette County Library, 155 S. Tyler Ave.

Jackson: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. April 25, Snow King Resort, Grand View Lodge, 400 East Snow King Ave.

— “Peaks to Plains” is a blog focusing on Wyoming’s outdoors and communities. Kelsey Dayton is a freelance writer based in Lander. She has been a journalist in Wyoming for seven years, reporting for the Jackson Hole News & Guide, Casper Star-Tribune and the Gillette News-Record. Contact Kelsey at [email protected] Follower her on twitter @Kelsey_Dayton

REPUBLISH THIS POST: For details on how you can republish this post or other WyoFile content for free, click here.

If you enjoyed this story and would like to see more quality Wyoming journalism, please consider supporting WyoFile: a non-partisan, non-profit news organization dedicated to in-depth reporting on Wyoming’s people, places and policy.


Popular Articles:


The legend of Lost Cabin


Mammoth-sized mystery


Deadly underestimation


Filed Under: Peaks to Plains

Kelsey Dayton

About Kelsey Dayton

Kelsey Dayton is a freelancer and the editor of Outdoors Unlimited, the magazine of the Outdoor Writers Association of America. She has worked as a reporter for the Gillette News-Record, Jackson Hole News&Guide and the Casper Star-Tribune. Contact Kelsey at [email protected] Follow Kelsey on Twitter at @Kelsey_Dayton

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Want to join the discussion? Fantastic, here are the ground rules:
- Identify yourself with full name and city. WyoFile stands behind everything we publish and expects commenters to do the same.
- No personal attacks, profanity, discriminatory language or threats. Keep it clean, civil and on topic.

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter

Tweets by @WyoFile

Search WyoFile

Become an Underwriter
Sign Up for Free Weekly Newsletters

Recent Comments

  • Michael Shay on A modest proposal for solving Wyoming’s budget woes
  • Steve Liess on Cheney’s ‘vote of conscience’ deserves respect
  • Dewey Vanderhoff on Cheney’s ‘vote of conscience’ deserves respect
  • Jeanne Raney on A modest proposal for solving Wyoming’s budget woes
  • Dewey Vanderhoff on Adverse solar bill advances after heated subsidies debate

Footer

Recent Posts By Date

January 2021
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
« Dec    

From The Archives

  • About Us
  • People
  • Careers
  • Freelancing
  • Underwriting
  • How to Republish
  • Subscribe
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2021 by WyoFile