Grizzly bear shows up in apple trees at Parker, Idaho on the Snake River Plain

Grizzlies will go out of their way seeking food, but the journey of an apple-loving grizzly from Yellowstone is amazing.

On September 8, a male grizzly was captured in an apple orchard on the north boundary of Yellowstone National Park at Gardiner, Montana. He was relocated onto the remote Two Ocean Plateau in the SE corner of Yellowstone -- 60 miles to the SE of Gardiner.

In early October Cary Crapo of Parker, Idaho, small town on the Snake River Plain, a few miles north of Rexburg, discovered that his crab apple trees had been mutilated. He found scat under the trees, but didn't suspect a bear.  A few nights later the animal returned to get the rest of the applies, and Crapo identified bear tracks the next morning.  Idaho Fish and Game arrived with a trap full of goodies a bear would like -- blueberry pie, canned tuna, and fresh elk meat.   To the surprise of everyone, they caught a grizzly bear, the same one that had been relocated to the Two Ocean Plateau, 100 miles to the east.

Parker is an agricultural hamlet near the base of the St. Anthony sand dunes on the Snake River Plain.  Grizzlies have not been seen in area during this century as far as I am aware.

The bear did not meet the definition of a "nuisance bear," according to Ted Chu, regional director for Idaho Fish and Game.  The bear apparently had been in the area about a week.

The grizzly was relocated onto the a remote part of the Targhee National Forest, which is a lot closer to Parker than the Two Ocean Plateau. The bears will den in about a month, but will this bruin stay up on the forest where there are no apple trees?

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