Remote cameras turn up no sign of grizzly

Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks investigators found that there were no images of bears on the wildlife cameras installed near a recent bear attack site northeast of Whitefish.

On Sunday a man was attacked by what investigators believe was a grizzly sow about 3-1/2 miles northeast of Whitefish on F. H. Stoltze land between Wisconsin Avenue and Haskill Basin Road. The man received several bites from the bear including a bite to the head, but they were not life-threatening.

The man was walking on the road with his daughter, who was walking two dogs on leashes. The bear charged the daughter from the left side of the road, charged past her and attacked the man. During the attack the man deployed pepper spray and the bear ran off the left side of the road. The investigation further showed that the father and daughter unknowingly walked between what is believed to be an adult female grizzly bear and her cubs. The bears had a dead deer cached nearby.

The man was transported to the hospital after he called 911 and walked back to his house.

FWP responded that night to the site and began investigating the attack. They returned to the attack site Monday morning. They removed a deer carcass that the bears had been feeding on and set up trail cameras to begin monitoring the site and area. Tuesday morning the investigators returned to check the cameras and found no images of bears.

FWP will continue to monitor the site. The monitoring results will determine any further actions.

In the interest of public safety, FWP worked with F. H. Stoltze and posted and closed the area where the attack occurred. FWP has released a map of the closed area.