When the state and federal grizzly bear people got together in Missoula this week, one of the highlights of the meeting was a discussion of Ethyl, a grizzly who decided to take a lengthy tour of Western Montana and Northern Idaho . . .
The roomful of biologists had lots of funny ideas why Ethyl the grizzly bear logged 2,800 miles arcing from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, past Florence and Missoula and eventually up to Eureka by way of Glacier National Park.
Maybe she ate a bad chicken. Or she was looking for someone she couldn’t find. Or she couldn’t find her back to her home range northeast of Bigfork – the one place she noticeably missed in the three-year ramble.
Update: A Fox News version of this story includes a map showing Ethyl’s travels.