Powder River Examiner -

Thursday, June 28, 1990

Wandering black bear may have headed home

Being a celebrity may have been too much for a wandering black bear, who apparently has fled the area in search of a less hectic atmosphere.

The bruin, which showed up unexpectedly north of Broadus last Wednesday evening, seemed only occasionally bothered by the strange goings on of man. A few occasions were apparently enough, however, and the bear may have headed home, but not before causing quite a stir among people who have never seen one in the area before.

According to Game Warden Kevin Holland the bear was last seen Monday afternoon on the John Smith ranch west of Broadus. It was still heading west when last sighted. Holland speculated that the bear originally came from the rough hills on or near the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation where sightings are fairly common. In fact, one of the largest black bears on record in Montana was killed several years ago on the reservation.

“It probably came from the west, probably off the reservation,” said Holland, “they do have bears over there; someone from the reservation shoots one every year or two”. There have also been several sightings of black bears in the rough country in western Powder River County. However the visit by one to less broken country around Broadus was believed to have been the first. Holland thought according to the size of its tracks, that the local visitor was most likely a young adult. He said that it could be around two years old, just recently kicked off its mother. “He was probably just trying to find a place for himself in the world,” Holland said.

The bear was first sighted north of Broadus at around 9 p.m. Wednesday when rancher Frank Rosencranz saw it along the highway. He said the bear lifted a fence wire with one front paw, stepped on another with the back paw, and slipped through.

By the following morning the story had begun to circulate. Rosencranz had told family member Bunny Davis of the sighting who in turn called her parents, Jack and Pat Ridenour, at their home on Five Mile Hill, along Highway 59 North.

Bunny made the call about 7 a.m. Her mother replied, “Oh ya, we’ll keep an eye out for him.” About 10 minutes later while Mrs. Ridenour was fixing breakfast, they saw a bear through the window eating its own breakfast out of nearby garbage barrels. “I told Jack, you call the sheriff and I’ll get the camera.” We watched it for about ten minutes, but it had probably been there about an hour, Mrs. Ridenour said.

The bruin after snacking ambled toward the house and began scratching itself on the hitch of a boat trailer parked in the breezeway between Ridenour’s house and shop.

It was at that point that Mrs. Ridenour was about to get her best picture through the bedroom window. The bear was about three feet away at the time, and the window was open.

“He heard the shutter click and looked up. He didn’t seem too alarmed,” she said. “I was too spooked to take another picture though. I left the room. I didn’t want him to get the idea he could come in here. We sure didn’t want to go outside either.”

Afterwards the animal wandered off into the side hills, leaving the smoke filled kitchen from an unattended breakfast at the home of its excited host.

Holland arrived on the scene about 25 minutes after the call, too late to see the bear. The game warden followed the bear’s tracks and patrolled the area for about an hour, he said.

While the Ridenours were convincing family and friends the sighting was no joke, the bear re-appeared the following morning in the yard of Gerald and Louise Alderman, at the former Perry Ranch headquarters northeast of Broadus at the mouth of Little Powder.

The bear, which may have had its eye on several goats nearby slipped into a dog kennel. The dogs responded with furious barking as Mrs. Alderman, who had heard of a previous day’s encounter, was headed outside to find the cause of the commotion. She jokingly told her husband, “Well, the bear must be here!”

She returned inside a few minutes later wide-eyed and wide awake to tell her husband. Calls were made to the game warden and neighbors were summoned to share the unusual sight.

The bear climbed a tree within the kennel, a few feet from the house, even as family and neighbors gathered around the yard. The bruin, oblivious to the excitement, found a comfortable niche in the tree and settled down for a nap.

Holland arrived later with a special gun which shoots darts filled with tranquilizing drugs. Holland fired a dart into the bear expecting it to fall within a few minutes when the drug took effect. Instead, the bear became agitated. After about 20 minutes it climbed down the tree and made for another cottonwood several hundred feet away. Holland fired a second dart on the run, which missed the target. The bear climbed the second tree for a few feet and turned and started to run across an alfalfa field and finally disappeared into the trees and brush along the river, with Holland and neighbors in hot pursuit.

“I made a mistake. I didn’t have enough dosage,” said Holland. “I’m new at this. This is the first time I ever tried to drug a bear.”

After being sited briefly Friday morning, still on the Edwards ranch, the bear disappeared again until it was seen Monday afternoon at the Smith ranch.

Hopefully it has returned unharmed to a more private domain.

LaFlammes receive weather service award

A Broadus couple was recently presented a length of service award from the National Weather Service, honoring their 25 years of public service as the official weather observers for the town.

Millard and “Pat” LaFlamme were presented the awards in recognition of their efforts in compiling daily records of Broadus’ high and low temperatures and precipitation.

In addition to the climatological data, the LaFlammes take detailed weather observations every six hours which are phoned in to the Weather Service Forecast Office at Great Falls, for use in preparing forecasts and flight briefings.

The couple began their duties as weather observers in late January, 1965. The weather station in Broadus dates back to 1936. Previous observers included Benjamin Patten, Ashton Jones, and Clifford Huckins, all in the early 1940s. Fred Edwards operated the station from 1947 until his death in 1964, with Arthur Amsden acting as his substitute for much of that time.

The LaFlammes are among approximately 300 volunteers state-wide who take part in the Weather Service’s Cooperative Observer Program. These people volunteer their time and efforts in building a record of Montana’s climate.

Babe Ruth baseball

The Broadus Babe Ruth season has managed a 1-4-1 season record to date on the local diamond, according to Coach Jerry Coulter. The boys will participate in the Cow Capital Tournament in Miles City this weekend.

A review of the games are as follows.

The Broadus boys lost to the Kiwanis in two games, 8-9 and 9-11. In the first game, where the Kiwanis edged Broadus for the win, hits were by Brandon Gatlin, Charlie Isaacs and Ryan Graff (2 hits). In game two hits for Broadus were from Adam Zimmer, Bobby Hilliard, Kyle Bogner and Gatlin.

Charlie Isaacs was the winning pitcher in a 12-11 run win over the Elks. He had seven strike-outs to his credit. Broadus hitters included Hilliard, Ray Phillippi, Gatlin (2) and Isaacs (3).

Broadus fell to the Miles City Elks, five to 13. Hitting for the home team were Gatlin, Isaacs, Phillippi, Bogner, Cass Zimmer and Rogge (2).

The local boys tied the Miles City Rotary, 16 all, in a marathon four-inning game which took 2 ½ hours to complete. Broadus was aided by 15 walks. Hits were turned in by Graff, Gatlin (2), and Rogge (2).

Broadus lost to the Eagles, 5-9, in a well played game, according to Coach Coulter.

“We had two hits and three walks and a couple of errors to help us to a five-run fourth inning against a very good Eagles team from Miles City,” Coulter said.

Gatlin, Rogge, and Eric Merchant all had single hits for their team.