BOZEMAN \u2014 Bears aren\u2019t just sticking to the mountains this fall, many have been spotted in neighborhoods around Bozeman as they search for food before hibernation.
Bozeman resident Megan Gorski said she was surprised to receive a message from her neighbor one morning warning her about a bear rummaging through her trash.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe texted me and said, \u2018Hey, there\u2019s a bear that\u2019s eating your trash and now it\u2019s in our neighbor\u2019s tree,\u2019 and she sent me a picture of it,\u201d Gorski said. \u201cI grew up in Florida, so I am still getting used to all of the critters out here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gorski said she expected more bear activity earlier in the summer but has started seeing and hearing about more sightings recently.<\/p>\n
WATCH: Bozeman bears enter fall feeding frenzy before hibernation<\/p>\n
Bozeman bears enter fall feeding frenzy before hibernation<\/p>\n
According to Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesperson Morgan Jacobsen, fall is peak feeding season for bears.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s why we call it hyperphagia \u2014 it\u2019s overeating this time of year,\u201d Jacobsen said. \u201cUp to 20,000 calories a day. Active for up to 20 hours a day.\u201d<\/p>\n
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MTN NEWS<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s why we call it hyperphagia \u2014 it\u2019s overeating this time of year,\u201d Jacobsen said. \u201cUp to 20,000 calories a day. Active for up to 20 hours a day.\u201d<\/p>\n
That\u2019s the equivalent of about 200 hamburgers a day. Jacobsen said that while bears primarily search for natural food sources, they\u2019re often drawn to garbage, bird feeders, and pet food left outdoors.<\/p>\n
\u201cSecuring attractants like garbage and bird feeders, it\u2019s important that bears don\u2019t have access to those,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The City of Bozeman offers bear-resistant trash cans to help reduce encounters. Gorski said she would consider switching to one, adding, \u201cAbsolutely! It\u2019d save us a lot of time.\u201d<\/p>\n
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MTN NEWS<\/p>\n
\u201cShe texted me and said, \u2018Hey, there\u2019s a bear that\u2019s eating your trash and now it\u2019s in our neighbor\u2019s tree,\u2019 and she sent me a picture of it,\u201d Gorski said. \u201cI grew up in Florida, so I am still getting used to all of the critters out here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacobsen said keeping bears out of trouble starts with changing human habits.
\u201cMake communities safe and help bears develop good, natural, healthy behavior,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
With more people out hiking and hunting this time of year, FWP also reminds residents to stay alert while outdoors.<\/p>\n
\u201cTravel in groups, make noise to alert bears of your presence, avoid surprise encounters, and always carry bear spray,\u201d Jacobsen said. \u201cIf you find a dead animal carcass while you\u2019re out, avoid those areas.\u201d<\/p>\n
Jacobsen added that anyone who notices bears getting into trash or acting unusually should contact FWP as soon as possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BOZEMAN \u2014 Bears aren\u2019t just sticking to the mountains this fall, many have been spotted in neighborhoods around…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226150,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":{"0":"post-226149","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wildlife","8":"tag-science","9":"tag-wildlife"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226149"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226149\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}