Honey-loving black bear put down

A bear that ransacked a kitchen in a Whitefish home last week soon after was

destroyed by state bear managers, but the bear's death may have renewed interest in reducing

local bear conflicts.

A bear that ransacked a kitchen in a Whitefish home last week soon after was destroyed by state bear managers, but the bear's death may have renewed interest in reducing local bear conflicts.

The bear raided the kitchen on Northwoods Drive on June 15, the day before a meeting had been planned to discuss bear-conflict issues in the Whitefish area.

After attending the meeting and discussing ways of reducing bear problems, state wildlife conflict specialist Eric Wenum found the bear in a culvert trap he had set in the Northwoods Drive area.

The bear was immediately killed.

"Any time a bear breaks into an occupied structure, we'll put it down," said Jim Williams, the regional wildlife manager for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks. "There's a line we don't want to cross, where there's too much of a risk to human safety."

Williams said Wenum was able to match the bear's paws with prints found in and around the kitchen. The 2-year-old, 65-pound female had eaten cinnamon rolls and made a mess getting into a jar of honey.

Wenum said Monday the bear clearly had experience in pursuing edibles in residential areas.

"You don't go from zero to breaking into houses overnight," Wenum said.

"This was a learned behavior. She had probably been doing this type of thing her whole life."

Williams said the incident raised a familiar lesson to be learned.

"The lesson that folks should take away from this is that no matter how much fun it is to watch bears, especially if they are in town, is if they get fed they are dead," Williams said. "They almost always end up dead, whether it's us through a management action or if they get hit by a car."

Williams and Wenum said the incident appears to have prompted interest among citizens and city leaders to reduce bear problems in and around Whitefish. Wenum plans to meet with Whitefish Public Works Director John Wilson next week to discuss ways to reduce problems in certain neighborhoods where there has been bear trouble.

"Whitefish represents a unique problem because it is surrounded by prime bear habitat, both for black bears and grizzly bears," Wenum said.

Wenum said he is mainly aiming to get more bear-proof garbage containers in particular areas, a goal that's been hindered by several hurdles in the past. The main problems: Container designs weren't compatible with the garbage trucks that are used in the Whitefish area, and containers were often too expensive.

Things have changed, though, Wenum said.

"Costs have come down and designs have gotten better so I think we can make things work," he said.

Wenum hopes to introduce bear-resistant containers, one neighborhood at a time, with a practical view of costs.

"I'm a realist," he said. "This is something that can't be cost-prohibitive at any level."

And resistant garbage cans alone won't reduce bear conflicts. The cans will have to come with education, Wenum said.

"When you've got 50 houses on a street and half have their bird feeders out and half have their garbage containers out, getting new garbage containers doesn't really solve the problem" of attracting bears to the neighborhood, he said.

Wenum said he would also like to see stricter enforcement of a relatively new city ordinance that prohibits Whitefish residents from rolling out their garbage containers the night before pickup.

"The bottom line is I still see an awful lot of garbage cans outside the night before pickup," he said.

Last year, there were instances of bears raiding one garbage container after another on certain city streets. This spring, however, has been relatively quiet in terms of bear problems throughout the Flathead, Wenum and Williams said.

"It's been quiet because there's been a lot of moisture that's caused good forage production," Wenum said.

Rather than going to town for food, bears have been content to pursue forest foods such as cow parsnip, sedges, grass shoots and glacier lilies, along with deer fawns and elk calves, Wenum said.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com