Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

In Condon, Mont., Grizzlies Are Closer Than People Think
The Wall Street Journal ^ | Wednesday, August 4, 2004 | JOHN J. FIALKA

Posted on 08/04/2004 7:20:26 AM PDT by presidio9

CONDON, Mont. -- Along about Labor Day, a tall, dark stranger known as "M-23" is likely to take a 40-mile trek south to Seeley Lake. There, peering out from a wooded, marshy area, he'll see tourists sunning themselves outside lakefront cabins and motorboats buzzing through the placid waters of this popular resort.

Chances are, nobody will see M-23, which may be just as well. Weighing 325 pounds and standing more than 6 feet tall, with a distinctive shoulder hump, he sports long scimitar-like claws and has a face scarred from years of vicious fights with other male grizzly bears. Though he tends to keep to himself, he's nobody to mess with.

"We would have never thought to look for him at Seeley because bears haven't been there before," explains Chris Servheen, a bear expert with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who spends much of his time here in Montana's upper Swan Valley, a kind of crossroads for some of the 1,300-plus grizzlies left in the northwestern U.S.

Mr. Servheen knows where M-23 prowls because he has fitted him and several other grizzlies with collars containing Global Positioning System receivers. M-23 is the only bear who has been tracked twice, and one piece of information stands out: In both 2001 and 2002, M-23 visited Seeley Lake in late summer.

For a long time, the daily movements of grizzlies were shrouded in mystery. Known to biologists as Ursus arctos horribilis, grizzlies are notoriously difficult to track by day and nearly impossible to follow at night. Mr. Servheen's bear-tracking maps are changing that. They have already yielded one surprising tidbit: America's largest, smartest predators may be closer than many people think.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous; US: Montana
KEYWORDS: animalrights; bearwhisperer; environment; grizzlies; grizzlybears; timothytreadwell

Former celebrity "bear whisperer" Timothy Treadwell.

1 posted on 08/04/2004 7:20:27 AM PDT by presidio9
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: presidio9

For the last two years, we here in Memphis have had Grizzlies walking freely amongst us and nobody minds it.


2 posted on 08/04/2004 7:22:45 AM PDT by NCC-1701 (ISLAM IS A CULT, PURE AND SIMPLE!!!!! IT MUST BE ERADICATED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: CholeraJoe

Hey CJ, keep a gun handy when you take the boys out in the fields.


3 posted on 08/04/2004 7:25:35 AM PDT by secret garden (My heroes have always been cowboys)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9

"325".lbs..more like 825..


4 posted on 08/04/2004 7:27:23 AM PDT by ken5050 (We've looked for WMD in Iraq for LESS time than Hillary looked for the Rose Law firm billing records)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9

They're so cute and cuddily.


5 posted on 08/04/2004 7:28:37 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9

I've got three words for you

458 Winchester Magnum

In the proper dosage, that should take care of the bear problem in short order.

Either that, or catch it in the middle of the road and hit it with a beer truck.


6 posted on 08/04/2004 7:28:37 AM PDT by Armedanddangerous (The first rule of gunfighting is to have a gun...more than one, if possible..)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: NCC-1701

Former New Age Animal Worshiper & PETA Life Member....

7 posted on 08/04/2004 7:29:15 AM PDT by joesnuffy (Moderate Islam Is For Dilettantes)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: presidio9

I guess this Treadwell feller was to bears as Rachel Corrie was to bulldozers. Neither one was splitting atoms on their days off, apparently.


8 posted on 08/04/2004 7:34:10 AM PDT by 2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: presidio9
All around me we have coyote packs and lots of wolves. Being a sheep producer, I keep close tabs on what's lurking and where. We have a Great Pyranese guardian dog which makes short work of coyotes and is a good match-up in a wolf battle.

Oddly enough, I've discovered that as long as there are enough rabbits, turkeys and ground birds, and roadkill deer, we all co-exist just fine. Should something take place disrupting that balance, causing a food shortage for the predators, I don't think co-existance will be possible.

9 posted on 08/04/2004 7:35:23 AM PDT by blackdog (Hell is an endless hayfield needing to be raked, baled, and put up.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: secret garden

Seeley Lake is about 75 miles from here. One of my coworkers lives in Lincoln close to where they found the Unabomber and sees bears in his yard all the time. He has to have armored trashcans to keep the bears away.


10 posted on 08/04/2004 7:38:15 AM PDT by CholeraJoe ("So be it. Threaten no more. To secure Peace and prepare for War.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: CholeraJoe

We had a young black bear in our yard at the Lake of the Ozarks last spring. I got a picture of him lapping seeds from the bird feeder. He was no grizzlie, and for that I'm thankful.


11 posted on 08/04/2004 7:43:56 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: secret garden

I think I have just the"handgun"for the job!It's not really a'handgun",it's really more of a"hand-cannon"!You guessed it,it's a 500S&W Magnum!!I don;t think there's an animal that can't be taken by one of these MONSTERS!!


12 posted on 08/04/2004 7:46:12 AM PDT by bandleader
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: Eric in the Ozarks

We have both kinds here. The blacks usually run. If you're smart you'll steer clear of the griz.


13 posted on 08/04/2004 7:49:20 AM PDT by CholeraJoe ("So be it. Threaten no more. To secure Peace and prepare for War.")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 11 | View Replies]

To: CholeraJoe

I got the crank-open window in my office open without his hearing me. The shutter snap from my camera sent him flying, tho...


14 posted on 08/04/2004 7:53:24 AM PDT by Eric in the Ozarks
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 13 | View Replies]

To: bandleader

you had better hope for a lucky head shot. if not that grizzle might get mad and have you for lunch. nothing less then a 3006.


15 posted on 08/04/2004 8:41:20 AM PDT by camas
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: presidio9

How funny is it that people would be shocked to see a bear when they live up in the mountains among all sorts of wildlife? Hmmm.... maybe they should be thinking that they themselves are living in the 'bears' back yard.


16 posted on 08/04/2004 10:42:45 AM PDT by Cate (Bush is da' man...)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: joesnuffy

Not sure I understand the meaning of your post. I was referring to our NBA team, the Memphis Grizzlies.


17 posted on 08/04/2004 12:06:02 PM PDT by NCC-1701 (ISLAM IS A CULT, PURE AND SIMPLE!!!!! IT MUST BE ERADICATED FROM THE FACE OF THE EARTH.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: camas

I'm talking 400gr.CorBon loads!One guy took one of these to Africa on a hunting trip.He took a Cape Buffalo with one round.He took an elephant with two.This thing produces three-times the muzzle-pressure as a .44Magnum.


18 posted on 08/06/2004 6:27:13 AM PDT by bandleader
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
News/Activism
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson