Montana Gone Wild...

Montana got grizz...

...apparently hell-bent on savagin our hunters in retaliation for past abuses wreaked upon cousin blacky...

http://fwp.mt.gov/news/newsReleases/fishAndWildlife/nr_0267.html

...And black bears dashin about the runways of our International Airports...

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/article/20110524/NEWS01/105240312/Black-bear-removed-from-airport

...and mountain lions lazin about the front porch terorizin innocent capitol city housewives...

http://helenair.com/news/article_dfbab480-86db-11e0-945a-001cc4c002e0.html

...and wolves invadin our backyard hell bent on killin our huntin dogs...

http://www.ravallirepublic.com/news/local/article_f1a4e83a-85a7-11e0-8565-001cc4c002e0.html

...and illegal alien, disease-ridden bison spewin outta Wyomin threatenin to wipe out our cows...

http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_a50d1bba-81cd-11e0-81de-001cc4c03286.html

...and grizz beaten the crap outta horrified hikers evidently for no better reason than to prove a point...

 http://www.bozemandailychronicle.com/news/article_ff41c2c8-8012-11e0-9d06-001cc4c002e0.html

...that bein you tread on my turf you gonna find yore sorry ass a painin somethin awful...

The title says it all, eh?...I rest my case.

Hungry Bears

With elk and wolves at historically low levels in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem biologists remain optimistic grizzly bears emerging from winter dens will still find plenty to eat.

While the mild winter had some bears out and about as early as mid-February most will start leaving dens sometime this month. Older males usually emerge first as early as March 1 with younger males and finally females with cubs later.

Despite fewer elk and thus fewer wolf kills there are still plenty of leftovers, especially in the park for bears to scavenge. Last fall's whitebark pine nut crop was the largest in recent years and many of the nuts remain. One traditional food bears won't find in abundance this spring are cutthroat trout running out of Yellowstone Lake to spawn...thank the dim witted bucket biologist(s)who stupidly decided lake trout would be a good fit for that.

Again thanks to the mild winter and low snowpack there's a good chance the high country will green up earlier than usual providing hungry bears much needed greens to help balance out the protein diet.

Bears actually come out less hungry than some think. Groggy and lethargic after a long winter's nap it takes awhile for the engines to rev giving the big omnivores plenty of time to scout out potential food sources before hunger pangs reach critical mass.