Whitefish photographer captures black bear taking a 'mega-byte'

A bear emerged from his long winter nap, anxious to catch up on current events, or so said the photographer who captured a video of the bear holding what appeared to be a laptop computer in its mouth.

While driving home March 26 after visiting friends, Whitefish native Mike Potter noticed what he first thought was a grizzly on the side of U.S. 93 near Arlee.

Astonished, Potter turned around and parked on the side of the road, hoping for a second look.

The bear’s head popped back up over the hill, and Potter said he couldn’t believe his eyes, describing the scene as “like a magic show.”

“It’s made my entire rainy week,” Potter said. “Probably the whole year. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

According to Potter, a lot of research went into figuring out what was in the bear’s mouth. After zooming in and studying the shape and shadowing of the object, he determined that it was, in fact, a laptop.

Potter struggled to contain his laughter as he recalled telling Stacy Courville, a biologist with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribal Wildlife Management Program, about the incident.

Courville told Potter he had been trying to trap the bear, which had been causing “bear jams” on the road, for weeks by baiting him with deer meat. The bear, however, was just coming out of hibernation and was not yet hungry enough to take the bait.

Courville said that while the object looked like it could be a laptop, it also looked like a piece of wood. He said he did not find anything that looked like a laptop while setting a new trap for the bear on Tuesday.

Courville said the bear most likely left his den in the culvert under the highway early due to the large amount of recent snow melt.

Both grizzly and black bears have been reported leaving their dens as spring approaches.

Baffled by the bear’s actions, Potter took to social media to let the public weigh in.

Hundreds of views and dozens of comments later, Potter had more questions than before.

“People were like ‘Is he looking for Wi-Fi or catching up on events or just trying to see how many likes he can get before he fully emerges?’”

A third-generation Whitefish resident, Potter has lived in Montana his whole life. He said he has seen almost everything, but never a grizzly.

The bear in Potter’s video is classified as a black bear in what is known as a “cinnamon phase.”

Though it wasn’t the grizzly Potter had hoped for, he said it was worth stopping for.

“It just brought a smile to my face that I don’t think is going to stop for quite a while,” Potter said. “It’s made me learn a lot about the culture of bears.”

Potter said he was so inspired by the scene that he went on to paint a portrait of the bear, minus the alleged laptop.

To view the bear-inspired portrait or Potter’s other work, visit www.mikecpotter.com.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.