Some people get sweet mid-day messages texted to them from their significant others. Others get flowers sent to the office. I get pictures of poop.

“Bear scat on the Gallagator Trail. I hate it when people don’t clean up after their bears,” was the message that accompanied this very detailed shot of a pile of poo with a tire track through it.

I asked if it was really bear scat. He told me it was and that he spotted more in Bogert Park nearby.

I’m no poop expert, but you can seem to see berries poking up out of the pile. The journalist in me wanted to get more information, though, before starting a public panic that the bears are in town already this fall. So I called Bozeman police and talked to Patrol Capt. Cory Klumb.

After a quick check, Capt. Klumb told me that there were no recent reports in the system about bears being spotted in that area.

But, he said, they do start getting calls this time of year about black bears in town. Usually it's a little later into the fall, though.

“It usually creates quite a stir when they do come into town,” he said.

Usually there will be about three or four bears in town each fall that show up to rummage around in our garbage cans, Klumb told me.

The south side’s a pretty popular place for the bears who show up there when the travel in from Hyalite, he said.

So what should you do when you see a bear in town?

“Don’t run. Get some distance. Get to a safe spot and give us a call,” Klumb said.

So there you have it. Is that bear scat in the photo? It sure looks like it, but I’m no expert. What do you think? Have you seen signs of bears in town yet this fall?

 

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