Horribilis

Linda Burton posting from Helena, Montana – “We’re headed for Glacier but we don’t expect to do much hiking there,” said the mom of the group. I was chatting with a family of four in the breakfast room; a mom and dad and two grown-up daughters enthusiastic about their holiday. One of the daughters spoke up then. “It’s the grizzlies; we’ve heard they are everywhere.” The other daughter chimed in too. “We saw three on the drive from Colorado. One was eating a deer carcass by the side of the road. He was huge.” I wished them a safe trip and headed upstairs to my computer. Are there in fact a lot of grizzly bears in this part of the country? According to Montana Fish and Wildlife, the grizzly bear, Ursus arctos horribilis, occupies over 6 million acres in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem (NCDE) of western Montana, notably Glacier National Park and the Bob Marshall Wilderness; the NCDE is believed to have the largest population of grizzlies in the lower 48 states. » read more