Mother Bear Charges Trains Two Of Her Cubs Were Hit; Hi-Line Railroad Traffic Halted
A sow grizzly bear, one of her cubs crushed by a freight train and another fatally injured, halted rail traffic across the Hi-Line Thursday by charging other trains.
The cubs, like many other bears in this pre-hibernation season, were probably scrounging for food, said Tim Manley, bear specialist with the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks.
It’s been a busy week of bear complaints for Manley, and he is urging hunters, orchardists and pet owners to keep their delicacies out of reach.
A Burlington Northern train struck the two cubs just west of Essex about 2:15 a.m. Thursday. When the sow remained, charging passing trains in the dark, BN halted through traffic, and Manley rode to the accident site on a train. He killed the wounded cub and picked up the carcasses by the light of the train. Eventually, the sow moved off the tracks.
Manley said they were this year’s cubs. One was male. The other was too badly crushed to tell its sex.
The accident was not near the grain spills that have attracted bears up the Middle Fork in past years, but the sow and cubs may have been walking along the tracks looking for grain that trickles out of cars, he said.
Manley has been busy answering bear complaints this week.
“The huckleberries are going off, so we are starting to see more activity,” he said. “They are searching for anything to eat.”
A grizzly stole an elk quarter that a hunter had hung outside a home near Bear Creek, up the Middle Fork. Manley used a bear dog to retrieve the meat, and the hunter hung the quarters again - higher.
Manley urged hunters to hang their game 10 feet off the ground in grizzly country.
Bears are also moving in on chokecherries, apples and similar fall food sources. Manley urged orchard owners to pick their fruit.
Also, he said, hungry bears snooping in rural areas may be drawn to garbage, birdseed and dog food. He advised homeowners not to leave those foods out overnight.
A 2-year-old, 265-pound sow grizzly suspected of killing sheep near Choteau was relocated to the Swan River Valley on Monday. It was suspected of killing sheep on a ranch owned by Bert Guthrie.
The bear was caught by the federal Animal Damage Control and will be monitored by radio collar.
In Glacier National Park, a bold male grizzly has returned to Many Glacier Valley after a brief exile. The bear had been darted earlier this summer after wandering within several feet of Many Glacier Hotel and even boarding a docked boat.
The bear was hauled by helicopter into a remote corner of Glacier, but came back. Park officials will let the bear remain, since the number of people in the area has dropped with the season.