Snared bear gets loose, bites researcher

The Daily Inter Lake

A Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks employee was bitten by a black bear Tuesday morning during a trapping operation above Hungry Horse Reservoir in the South Fork Flathead River Drainage.

Wildlife technician Clay Miller was bitten once on the elbow. He was treated with antibiotics and released from North Valley Hospital.

The injury is the first sustained during two decades of bear monitoring and research in Western Montana.

"We've had a terrific safety record, but accidents will happen," Fish, Wildlife and Parks spokesman John Fraley said. "These guys are among the best bear folks in the business. It's unfortunate, but it just happened."

Miller and two other researchers were checking a snare trap set to capture grizzlies as part of a bear population monitoring program. The black bear, which wandered into the trap by mistake, appeared to be securely caught by the foot.

As Miller approached it with a tranquilizer pole, the bear charged to the end of the snare. The bear retreated, but charged again and escaped from the snare.

The bear then charged Miller, biting him on the elbow. Miller pushed the bear aside and the bear ran away, Fraley said.

The bear is believed to have weighed about 250 pounds.

Miller was checking traps for the Northern Continental Divide bear monitoring program, a multi-agency initiative to track female grizzly bears to determine whether the population is shrinking or growing.

He was accompanied by wildlife biologist and project leader Rick Mace and wildlife conflict specialist Erik Wenum.

Fish, Wildlife and Parks is investigating the trap site and the trapping methods used in the project, Fraley said.