In the early morning hours of October 17, 2007, a pick-up struck a grizzly bear on Highway 200 five miles west of Lincoln. The bear died instantly. The pickup truck fared little better.
The bear, a 12-year-old
male, stood nearly eight feet tall and weighed 830 pounds.
That’s
big. Really big.
As it turned
out, the bear ranked as the third-largest grizzly on record in Montana. Following the death of the bear, five members
of the United Taxidermist Association (four from Montana and one from Pennsylvania)
donated their time and expertise to preserve the bear in a lifelike pose. The bear is now on permanent display at the Lincoln Ranger District office.
“We need to
stop and see something,” I informed Desiree as we approached the Lincoln Ranger
District office while on a Sunday drive to see Sculpture in the Wild. After pulling off Highway 200 and parking in
front of the district office building, I led Desiree to the front entrance. “I want you to see a grizzly in safe mode,” I
told her. “The office is closed today,
but we can see the bear though the windows.”
Upon reaching
the windows of the office, we cupped our hands against our face and pressed our
faces against the glare and reflection on glass. The bear immediately appeared less than five
feet away.
“That’s a
pretty big bird,” I said.
“That’s the
real bear?” Desiree asked.
“Yep. And look at how long those claws are.” I tapped on the window.
To help Desiree to take a few photographs through the glare on the glass, I unfurled my jacket and held it up against the window behind her smartphone. Posted are a couple images Desiree captured.
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—Mitchell Hegman
Source: https://crownofthecontinent.net
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