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Bears starting to - or soon will - emerge from winter dens

Springtime in Montana brings with it a few certainties: For one, it's gong to be muddy. It's also going to be warm and beautiful one day, then snowy and cold the next.   
     It also means bears are starting to wake up and will soon be lumbering out of their dens.

Credit M. Madel
Wouldn't want to surprise this big boy....

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks Grizzly Bear Management Biologist, Mike Madel, conducted his first grizzly bear count of 2014 yesterday on the Rocky Mountain Front.
    In tonight's feature interview, Madel speaks with Edward O'Brien from a remote field station north of Choteau.
    Madel says there are indications that bears in the Northern Continental Divide Ecosystem are now both hibernating and emerging from their dens a little earlier than normal.

O’Brien first landed at Montana Public Radio three decades ago as a news intern while attending the University of Montana School of Journalism. His first career job out of school was covering the 1995 Montana Legislature. When the session wrapped up, O’Brien was fortunate enough to land a full-time position at the station as a general assignment reporter. Feel free to drop him a line at edward.obrien@umt.edu.
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