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WELCOME TO FALL
Mary VanFleet
Its Fall in Henrys Lake Country. If you are here you should be especially alert for bears as they are very active now bulking up for winter. Yes, you have heard this a hundred times, but you must DO it to be safe in bear country. Carry bear spray every time you go out, and have it readily accessible, not tucked away. Stay alert to your surroundings constantly, keep your head on a swivel when trucking through brush or woody areas. Travel in groups (2 is not a group), and make a lot of noise. If you see or hear crows, magpies or ravens, steer clear! If you see or smell a carcass, back-track quickly. Move out of the area. When hiking, watch your surroundings constantly, not your feet.
If you like to go mountain biking or mountain running, you are at higher risk of encountering a bear. Slow down in areas of dense vegetation and when going around corners. Recreate in the daytime and not at dusk and dawn. Make noise, let bears hear you when visibility is low. A visitor to West Yellowstone was killed this summer by a griz just over Targhee Pass when out for an early morning jog. Earbuds? There is something to learn here….
If you are camping in bear country (and all of Idaho is bear country) you MUST properly hang your food out of reach or in bear boxes (please—not your car if you value it!). Never eat in your tent, or contaminate your clothing with food odors.
If you are living in bear country, avoid feeding birds in bear seasons, use a bird bath instead to attract them. If you have fruit trees, be responsible and pick them as they become ripe and remove spoiled fruit. Store your trash and garbage in bear proof containers or in a locked garage or storage shed. Using an old freezer to freeze it before you take it to the landfill also helps. For more information, and to watch a few bear-avoidance videos, check out fwp.mt.gov/bear-aware. Interesting to see how much FWP(Montana) game wardens keep their head on a swivel!!
The bear density of YNP is at carrying capacity for boar grizzlies. Because of that they are being shoved out into other areas, and Eastern Idaho is one. That’s why it seems there are more bears here, there are! It will not be very long until Island Park is also saturated, so practicing smart bear-aware habits is going to be essential to personal safety. Stay safe!
On the invasive species front, there is a little news. On the Idaho side, IDFG announced that quagga mussels were found in the Snake River in the Twin Falls area. This is below Shoshone Falls. There is a total river closure there so that an assessment can be made and develop a plan to prevent the spread to other waterbodies. This is a high alert to all of you who fish various waters to be vigilant about cleaning your gear and your boats. Quagga are tenacious and can hide on your boat in obscure places!
Montana provided a summary of their fishing season activities at 17 boat inspection stations. They inspected 86,000 watercraft so far this year for aquatic invasive species. They found 45 mussel fouled boats and 400 with invasive aquatic weeds. Just in the past few weeks a recently purchased ski boat from Minnesota was intercepted at the Wibaux inspection station enroute to Pend Orielle, ID. Another wakeboard boat from Minnesota was also found at Wibaux, headed for Lake Tahoe. So there are a lot of boats and other watercraft out there that come into our area contaminated. Appreciate your local check station. They are doing a great job keeping our fisheries clean. We are only one miss away from disaster.
Thank you to Robert Keith and Sarah Ghigliazza for the photos.
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