They Talked Behind Back Of Grizzlies

If any hibernating Inland Northwest grizzly bears felt their round little ears burning Thursday night, there’s a simple explanation.

People were talking about them.

Some 30 men and women showed up at REI on Spokane’s North Side for a disjointed but worthwhile program called “The American Grizzly: Beyond Borders.”

Speakers used the word “controversial” more than once. But this was a quietly pro-bear crowd.

Before things got started, a dozen or so people respectfully examined a lawfully obtained grizzly bear skull and a silvery pelt that included the awesome claws. There were no wisecracks. Nobody going “Grrrrrr!”

One guy in a flannel shirt wore a cap on which was written “Bear in Mind.”

Another talked about having a bumper sticker on his truck that reads: “Support the Right to Arm Bears.”

Still others did what people do at almost any gathering.

“See anyone you know?” a woman in one of the folding chairs asked the man seated next to her.

“Not yet,” he said.

The presentation essentially consisted of a couple of narrated slide shows. Much of what was covered wouldn’t have been new to anyone who has seen a PBS nature special or two and kept reasonably abreast of news pertaining to grizzlies in the Lower 48. But there were a few moments that made having chanced the iffy streets seem like a good decision.

In a world full of people who think they need to be entertainers or encounter-group leaders, Spokane bear advocate James Musgrove’s low-key delivery was a refreshing change.

And the Idaho Department of Fish and Game’s Brian Johnson made an important point in a simple but effective way.

One of the biggest threats to the tiny grizzly population still hanging on in the nearby Selkirk Mountains is people mistaking them for black bears and shooting them, he said.

And to demonstrate that it’s not always easy to tell the two varieties apart (black bears are often brown), he showed a series of bears-in-the-wild slides and asked his audience to identify the species.

Many flunked his little quiz.

“The grizzly bears in the Selkirks will have a chance if we can get people to quit killing them,” he said matter-of-factly.

As usual, the truly dangerous species isn’t the one called horribilis.

, DataTimes MEMO: Being There is a weekly feature that visits Inland Northwest gatherings.