Becoming Bear Aware
Fruit gleaning to reduce bear conflicts emphasized at wildlife festival
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RONAN — During the Fourth Annual Wildlife Festival on Saturday, a free cider pressing, information on fruit gleaning and chronic wasting disease were offered to the public.
The event, held Saturday, Sept. 14 at the Ronan Visitor Center, also came with an opportunity to speak with CSKT Wildlife biologists.
Biologist Kaylie Durglo explained the purpose of the event is to encourage people to remove outside food sources, such as apples, to reduce potential bear, human conflict. “If the fruit isn’t collected, it is a delicious treat for bears and an easy food source,” she said.
She continued: “At first, we wanted to set up a way to educate people with solutions on what to do with extra fruit, and then, the event just became a festival.”
For help with extra fruit, Durglo recommends people contact the Mission Valley Fruit Gleaning group. She said the group can be found on Facebook.
She also recommends using bear-proof trash cans. In a press release about September being proclaimed “Bear Aware Month,” Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks remind people that bears become more active in the late summer and fall as they spend more time eating in preparation for hibernation. Keeping all attractants and garbage secured helps to reduce the risk of negative bear encounters.
Chronic Wasting Disease was another topic of discussion at the event. CWD is a disease found in deer, elk and moose that damages the animal’s brain, causing behavioral changes and death. To prevent spread of the disease in the area, the first local CWD check stations will be set up this fall.
“Starting in October, we will have our first CWD check station across from Westland Seed in Ronan, and in November, another at the boat stop in Ravalli,” Durglo said. “The last one we are looking to set up will be in Elmo.”
Wild game can also be checked for CWD at the FWP office in Polson.
