Grizzly Bears Surprise Western Montana Family With Up-Close Visit

Since the weather doesn't want to get its act in gear to let us know that spring has arrived I guess we'll just have to rely on the fact that bear sightings are becoming more of an occurrence. With the animals finding their way out of hibernation, here are three bear encounter stories that I've seen in just the last week.

Return of the "tourons"

I think by now we all know the term touron is made up of a combination of the words tourist and moron and is a title usually given to those that don't respect the boundaries when it comes to how far of a distance you should keep from wildlife. It didn't take long into the season for visitors at Yellowstone National Park to be filmed getting dangerously close to a massive grizzly bear. Thankfully, nothing spooked the bear or things could have ended up in a much more unfortunate way.

Is it still squatting if the unwanted company is sleeping?

This didn't happen in Montana but it's pretty wild. A tv station shared a story about a California woman recently finding five bears hibernating under her house! She heard noises and decided to investigate. That's when she found a mama bear and four cubs enjoying a little peaceful slumber. A local organization came out to wake the bears and they eventually made their way into the woods. The woman didn't realize they had been under her home for four months! Can you imagine making that discovery?

Did they think this was Goldilock's house?

In a story that's making news today, a family in St. Ignatius captured the video below that features a few grizzly bears snooping around their property. These three bears didn't seem to be concerned with porridge, chairs, and beds, but they did wander around for about 45 minutes and come to within about 20 yards of the house. The homeowners say they've lived there for more than 30 years and have never seen grizzlies get so close.

Our weather has been a little crazy and it's making for a bit of a slower end to hibernation this year. Make sure to stay alert and be bear aware out there!