Grizzlies might strike fear and awe in the hearts of all who venture into their ever-expanding territory.
But North America’s apex predator also knows how to have fun, as seen in a video of two burly bruins frolicking across a potato field in eastern Idaho.
During the short clip, a pair of grizzlies gallop through the greenery of the potato field under a wide-open sky, apparently without a care in the world. There’s also the sound of an engine, likely farm equipment, and some excited talk between onlookers.
‘A Friend Of A Friend’
The video was making the rounds on social media this week after being originally posted on the Facebook page of 102.1 FM “The Bull,” a radio station in Twin Falls, Idaho.
Howard Chambers, who is on the air from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., told Cowboy State Daily that he got the video from a good friend who is a potato farmer. That person had in turn gotten it from “a friend of a friend” who apparently had recently taken the video on a potato from near Driggs, Idaho.
‘Part Of The Ecosystem They Occupy’
Although the sight of grizzlies in the middle of a wide-open potato field might seem bizarre, it’s not unheard of in the Driggs area, Idaho Game and Fish Department spokesman James Brower told Cowboy State Daily.
He said he hadn’t seen or heard of that particular video, but that it makes sense grizzlies would venture into a potato field for a snack or a bit of carbo-loading.
“Grizzlies are really good generalists,” he said. “Anything that they can consume, they’ll take advantage of.”
Farms and ranches around Driggs are directly adjacent to prime grizzly habitat in Teton Park, so bears are known to come out of the mountains and raid farmers’ fields from time to time, he said.
“Driggs is, historically, good grizzly bear habitat,” Brower said. “That’s part of the ecosystem they occupy.”
Grizzlies haven’t yet pushed farther out into the Idaho flatlands, as they have been doing on the Montana prairies, he said.
Trouble Bruin
The sight of grizzlies having a ball without anybody getting hurt is a bright spot amid some grim news about bears as of late.
A grizzly, thought to be a female with a cub, attacked and killed Amie Adamson, 47, of Derby, Kansas, early Saturday on the Buttermilk Trail roughly 8 miles west of West Yellowstone.
Wildlife agents called off efforts to trap that bear and her cub this week. It was determined that the attack was likely purely defensive, because Adamson might have startled the grizzly and her cub at close range. The bears are thought to have left the area.
And earlier this month, Wyoming Game and Fish Department agents killed a young grizzly bear that had been causing trouble around roads and campgrounds in northwest Wyoming. That bear had been displaying increasingly bold and aggressive behavior toward people, including pushing on a tent, according to Game and Fish.
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
