BELL THE BEARS

I moved to Bozeman, Montana, sometime around 1980. At that time there was a serious problem of tragic encounters between humans and grizzly bears in Yellowstone Park and in the various mountain ranges in southern Montana. A number of people had been mauled and/or killed and eaten. One such encounter between a grizzly and a human resulted in the death of a man and a grizzly. William May was camping in a public campground near West Yellowstone, Montana, when a grizzly killed and partially ate him. Officials later killed the grizzly. 

In response to this horrific incident I wrote the following editorial that was published in the Bozeman Chronicle. This editorial created a lot of controversy. The "tree huggers" thought it was an awful idea--one guy told me I was an idiot. The tourists and newly-arrived "flatlander" residents thought that it was a great idea. The locals thought it was amusing.

The editorial: 

A recurring element in all the tragic encounters between grizzly bears and humans of which I am aware is that of surprise. The result of this element of surprise is that when these encounters occur the people involved have inadequate time in which to take proper evasive action. In all cases, if the humans had received warning of the approach or presence of a grizzly, they likely could have prevented the encounter. If this element of surprise could be eliminated, then most problems with grizzlies could be avoided. There is a simple and inexpensive solution to this problem.

I suggest attaching large cow bells to all grizzlies. Then, with the bears clinking and clanking their way through the woods and thus continually announcing their whereabouts, the rate, and the direction of travel, it would become almost impossible for surprise encounters to occur. Even sleeping campers would be warned of the now unstealthy approach of a dangerous bear.

Grizzlies are easy to trap. This is done frequently at present to study the bears, attach radio collars and to relocate problem bears. This has done little, however, to save the bears or to prevent dangerous encounters with humans.
 
The bear that ate William May on June 25 had been trapped previously. If a bell had been attached to it at that time, likely this tragedy would not have happened. For want of a simple bell, a man is now dead, a family grieves, a bear has been murdered, and a controversy rages over what to do.

The costs, both environmentally and monetary, of a program to "BELL THE BEARS" would be minimal. The price of the entire 200 or so cow bells required is probably less than the cost of a single radio collar. And the only environmental cost would be an occasional melodic clinking in the distance. Indeed, this is surely a tiny price for a solution which would enable the grizzly to continue to roam and which would allow the continued safe use by humans of their forests and parks.

(Name withheld by request)
Bozeman