Bear No.399's two cubs near the Oxbow Bend in Grand Teton National Park. Photo by Gary Pollock, NPS.

Jackson Hole’s grizzly and black bear populations have begun to stir around after a long winter’s nap with at least one grizzly already spotted around the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center in Grand Teton National Park.

Park officials are warning home owners and visitors to the park to be aware that this is the time when bears emerge hungry from their semi-hibernation state. While Yellowstone National Park first spotted its early risers around mid-March, Grand Teton park officials had until yesterday only seen bear foot prints. Yesterday’s visit to the park’s new visitor center by the male grizzly made it official, said park spokeswoman, Jackson Skaggs.

The bears are back.

“Male bears typically first sashay out of their dens in mid-March,” Skaggs said. Grizzly sitings in Buffalo Valley and in the northern part of the Teton Range has been the usual spring pattern in the past, but this year’s siting of the grizzly in Moose confirms what bear biologists warned Jackson Hole residents last year.

“The distribution of the grizzly is changing, and we are seeing more bears further south” as the population recovers and grows, Skaggs said. The grizzly bear was removed from the Endangered Species list in 2007.

Among the bears emerging for spring will be local favorite No. 399. The female grizzly and her three cubs were the talk of the town last summer after consistent sitings of the family near Black Tail Butte and elsewhere in the park. Skaggs said biologists are expecting No. 399 to emerge again this year with more cubs.

So, does No. 399 have a steady mate?

Subadult cubs of bear No. 399 taken last spring near the Oxbow Bend. Photo by Gary Pollock/NPS.

“We know that there were at least two or three male suitors last June, and we believe there was a coupling, but we are not sure who bred with her,” she said.

We took that as a polite way to say that No. 399 likes to play the field. After all, she is a popular subject for the local paparazzi. What male bear wouldn’t want to ride on her coat tail to fame and fortune?

No. 399 and other bears are actually not true hibernators, Skaggs said. While bears do lower their temperatures and put on an extra layer of body fat to last through the winter months, they are not in a coma-like state and often come out of their dens in the middle of the winter. They can also be disturbed if provoked, she said.

In the spring, the longer daylight coupled with the fact that many have burned through their extra fat layer causes the bears to stir and eventually come out of their dens to look for food, Skaggs said.

The bottom line for us here in the valley: It’s time to start either pulling in our bird feeders or hanging them higher and making sure our trash cans aren’t at risk. In addition, Skaggs urges people using the park’s open roads for biking and walking to carry bear pepper spray, even if you think it’s too early.

The bear’s ranges have expanded, and the places that used to be typically bear-free are no longer a sure thing, she said.

Popularity: 6% [?]