Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks maintains a " Prairie Bear Monitor " page on Facebook to keep people along and east of the Rocky Mountain Front aware of grizzly bear activity in the region.
On Monday, the agency shared a brief video that demonstrates how motion-activated lights and chirping sirens can work to deter bears that are looking for food too close to homes.
The Facebook post states:
Grains spills are an ordinary part of farming, but are easy food for grizzly bears. Farmers are literally working day and night this time of the year cutting fields - so they are short on time. Oftentimes grizzly bears retian (sic) fear of people, but are still attracted to our foods - so they come under the cover of night. Bears coming at night make aversive conditioning actions difficult, so instead we set up scare devices to deter bears. This female and youngster attempted to eat a small grain spill multiple times in one night, but kept getting scared away by the motion activated lights and siren. The bears have not returned to the farm since that night.
The "About" section of the Facebook page states: "This MT FWP facebook page is dedicated to providing information on the monitoring and management of grizzly bears across the north-central Montana prairie. Please report grizzly sightings and conflicts here or more immediately by phone (450-1097)."
For more information on grizzly bears, bear resistant containers, and food storage guidelines visit the Interagency Grizzly Bear Committee website .
Click here to learn more about bears in Montana at the FWP website .
